Ban pan-masala promotions

It is shameful that Indian film stars appear in pan-masala advertisements

Several decades ago, a senior colleague in the Indian Foreign Service was known in South Block for his addiction to pan-masala. I noticed that he would open a pan-masala tin, filled to the brim with a brownish mixture, and have this powdery stuff with a tiny plastic spoon throughout the working day. At times he would go through more than one tin in a day. He was fit and an avid sportsman all through his life and yet he passed away in his early 60s. It could be that the consumption of all that pan masala led to health disorders which, in turn, caused his early demise. According to a study on this subject cited on the website of the National Library of Medicine (established by the Government of India in 1966), “the odds of developing pre-cancer with the consumption of pan-masala are high, even when it is consumed without tobacco.” https://www.ncbi.­­nlm.­nih.gov/­pmc/articles/ PMC5343152/

Since 2011, all state governments have banned the sale of chewing tobacco (gutka) and pan-masala laced with tobacco. Yet, the lobbying power of gutka producers is evident from a September 2022 Delhi High Court judgment that set aside the prevailing ban on the sale of gutka and other such products containing tobacco. Less than a year later, on April 10, 2023, a Bench led by the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court overruled this September 2022 judgment and upheld the appeals of the central and Delhi governments against the sale of gutka and tobacco flavoured pan-masala.

Television and other advertisements continue to be allowed in India for pan-masala but not for similar products that contain gutka. Indian health authorities may be patting themselves on the back for making a distinction between gutka and pan-masala. Namely, gutka causes cancer and hence has been banned. However, despite the evidence to the contrary, pan-masala has been deemed to be acceptable. It is obvious if we observe those who consume pan-masala that it is habit forming. Further, the banning of gutka has probably not led to lower consumption of this carcinogenic product. We know what happens in India and elsewhere when the production and sale of alcohol is banned. Bans lead to clandestine production and distribution networks going underground. The Indian media has periodically reported the tragedies caused by spurious liquor, which contains traces of methyl alcohol and can lead to blindness and death in that order. Most governments around the world have banned the sale of heroin and cocaine. However, some would contest whether the banning of these lethal drugs has actually reduced their consumption in India or elsewhere. It is likely that it is the lower availability of hard drugs in India that constrains consumption rather than law enforcement.

A few months ago, I travelled by taxi from Guwahati to Tezpur. In casual conversation with the driver, I learnt that he stopped having pan-masala after watching government sponsored television clips that show the horrific consequences of oral cancer. The driver’s voice quavered as he recounted how his wife was suffering from oral cancer even though he had pleaded with her not to consume gutka or pan masala.  He explained that he had to be out from his home for several days at a time driving taxis between various points in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, and Nagaland and in his absence his wife continued to chew pan-masala and gutka. The many little shops that stock bottled water and snacks on both sides of small-town and inter-city roads in India hang long strips of pan-masala pouches from their awnings. These brightly coloured pouches, which sway in the wind, probably look alluring to passers-by and are too readily available all over India. Moving on from this bruising personal memory, it is common knowledge that truck and taxi drivers on long-haul journeys chew pan-masala or gutka continuously.

Government agencies around the world are unable to eliminate the production of hard drugs or their consumption but advertisements of such drugs are not permitted in India or elsewhere. Yet, Indian authorities allow pan-masala to be widely advertised all over the country. For example, well-known film stars were featured in repeated pan-masala advertisements during the April-May 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket matches. Vimal and Rajnigandha are major pan-masala brands that are advertised widely. Although such advertisements are currently allowed in India, high net-worth stars from India’s film world should be discouraged from appearing in such promotions.

An obvious roadblock in banning pan-masala advertisements is that their sales bring in considerable revenue for pan-masala producers. The International Market Analysis Research and Consulting Group has estimated that pan-masala sales revenues amounted to Rs. 41,821 crore in 2021 and such earnings are growing at the rate of about 3.5 per cent per annum. Clearly, pan-masala producers would use all permitted mediums of advertising, such as television channels and newspapers, as they have a huge vested interest in raising the consumption of pan-masala. Since the banning of harmful substances is invariably unsuccessful, a practical course of action is for the Indian central and state governments to ban all promotions of pan-masala even without tobacco. Further, if taxes on revenues from the sales of pan-masala were to be raised, this too would have a depressing impact on the sales of this noxious product.

From all accounts, the consumption of pan-masala is habit forming and is highly injurious to health. This information needs to be explained in simple terms in all Indian languages via government sponsored messages. It is likely that in India’s rural and semi-urban areas, there is a mistaken sense, particularly among the young, that consuming pan masala is chic and a sign of upward income mobility. It follows that all pan-masala advertisements on television, radio and print media, particularly in vernacular languages, should be outlawed.

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j.bhagwati@gmail.com. The writer is a former Indian Ambassador and former head of market risk at the World Bank, and currently a distinguished fellow at the Centre for Social and Economic Research