For Sincerity on Public Health

Actually, there are major public health issues in India that are being overlooked – thanks to the anti-smoking hysteria of pmk ramadoss.

The first is alcohol.

Indians drink hard liquor. This is because low alcohol beverages like beer and wine are intentionally overtaxed. Throughout India, a bottle of beer costs just as much as a quarter of rum – so most people drink rum: more bang for your buck. Rum is made from sugarcane. And the sugar lobby is strong. The IMFL “Old Monkey” brigade is the biggest contributor to the coffers of the Congress party. So no health minister will take up the issue of making beer tax-free, so as to encourage tipplers to shift to this healthy drink.

If I had my way I would actively promote beer. I would encourage micro-breweries selling mugs of draught beer to poor people at less than the price of a sugary cola. This is one sure way of promoting better public health.

On tobacco, the fact is that most Indians smoke beedis. Zero taxes on unfiltered cigarettes would encourage poor smokers to shift up from beedis – and this would be an improvement in their consumption. But the beedi lobby is also strong in the government: Praful Patel, the current civil aviation minister, is a beedi king. And his boss Sharad Pawar is big on both beedis as well as IMFL. He is a "co-operative" sugar baron.

In my book, the foremost task before the public health authorities is to eradicate mosquitoes and flies. They should also ensure that public health facilities provided by The State to the poor are well run. Pmk ramadoss’ anti-smoking campaign is actually a smoke-screen that hides the real failures of public policies on public health.

So let us all, the long-suffering people, unitedly campaign for tax-free beer and wine, for tax-free unfiltered cigarettes, and the complete annihilation of mosquitoes and flies.

Let us see through this minister’s – and this government’s – insincerity and deception.