 "Bidi industry urges government to join delegation for WHO FCTC conference")
All India Bidi Industry Federation (AIBIF) has requested the Centre to include bidi manufacturers and other stakeholders of the industry in the Indian delegation for the World Health Organization's (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) to represent the industry's view.
India is going to host the conference titled "The seventh session of the Conference of the Parties (COP7)". It will bring together the WHO FCTC's 180 Parties, which includes almost every country in the world, as well as regional economic integration organisations like the European Union. COP7 will be held during November 7 to 12, 2016 at Delhi.
Rajnikant Patel, president, AIBIF said, "We are deeply concerned about the vested interests of NGOs (non-governmental organisations) and anti-tobacco activists in India influencing the government's tobacco control policy, which is already hurting bidi industry and consequently employment of bidi workers and causing a widespread growth of counterfeit trade in bidis."
The Indian delegation comprising all bidi industry stakeholders to COP7 is to ensure that all stakeholders viewpoint on various issues is considered while recommending new tobacco control measures without harming the interests of millions of bidi workers dependent on the bidi industry.
Patel said, "In order to protect the interests of millions of bidi workers, law-abiding bidi manufacturers, and rights of other constituents of the tobacco industry, we appeal to the Government of India to include bidi industry stakeholders and representatives of the bidi workers unions in the official Indian delegation to the conference."
It is the first occasion that a COP meeting is being held in India and signals a strong and generous commitment of the Government of India to increase international co-operation and awareness of the WHO FCTC globally and especially in the WHO South-East Asia Region.
According to industry sources, out of eight million beedi workers nearly 70 per cent are women who belong to tribal and rural areas in states like Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and West Bengal.