For once, a tax decision is not just about numbers but about people. The government’s GST tweak — 40% on cigarettes and only 18% on bidis — might look odd at first glance, but scratch the surface and you’ll see logic rooted in forests and villages.
Bidis aren’t just tobacco wrapped in tendu leaves; they’re an economic lifeline. For tribal communities, collecting tendu leaves is a primary source of income. For rural women, hand-rolling bidis is often the only employment available in villages. To tax bidis heavily would mean striking at the very core of cottage industry and rural livelihood. The state has rightly chosen not to choke this ecosystem.
Yes, bidis are harmful. Nobody is painting them “healthy.” But the poor man’s bidi is not just a puff of smoke — it’s also a thread connecting his family to food, his wife to work, and his community to sustenance. Unlike factory-made cigarettes owned by billion-dollar corporations, bidis flow from the grassroots. Protecting that flow is not weakness; it’s a recognition of India’s socio-economic fabric.
Critics will cry “vote-bank politics.” But even if there’s political calculus, the fact remains: the softer tax shield ensures the poorest are not stripped of both livelihood and leisure in one stroke. Rural economies are fragile; one harsh tax could break them.
Meanwhile, higher cigarette GST levels the playing field, pushing urban smokers to bear the brunt. It’s tough on the corporate-made, softer on the hand-made. And perhaps that’s exactly the balance india needs.
A single tendu leaf now carries the weight of tribal survival, women’s wages, public health, and even election arithmetic. In this smoke, for once, there’s more green than grey.
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