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Tobacco firms targeting kids
Advertise products on kites in spite of total ban
Aditi Tandon
Tribune News Service

Across North India, chewing tobacco industry is targeting children by advertising their products on kites which forms the part of the cultural landscape of India, especially in rural areas. Perhaps the firms are driven by the fact that the use of tobacco is higher among rural population as 73 per cent Indians live in villages.

No wonder select markets across Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi are flooded with the kites, made of coloured poly sheets printed with chewing tobacco brands. Delhi's Sadar Bazaar is full of such kites. Among major players advertising their products through kites are Mahak Gutkha (manufactured at Kundli, Haryana), Hans Chhap Khaini (Delhi), Rashmi Zarda (Tripura), Tara Filter Khaini, Mor Chhap Tapkir, Nas Chinkni (dry snuff) among others.

And if you thought these kites only provide information about the types of product, you are mistaken. They offer generous details on product's composition, its cost and its delights. The more daring firms like Tara Filter Khaini even inscribe special instructions for children, like "put the filter pouch under your lips and enjoy". The sale value of such kites is immense as they are attractive and cheap. The cost of each kite is 50 paise.

Alarmed by the practice, Mr Hemant Goswami of the Burning Brains Society (BBS), an NGO working against consumption of tobacco in North India, has recently sent a letter to the Union Health Minister, Mr. Ambumani Ramdoss, seeking his intervention in the matter. He says, "The modus operandi of tobacco firms is simple. They produce coloured poly sheets, hand them over to kite makers free of cost. Then these sheets are laced with labels of tobacco firms."

Indiscriminate advertising by the tobacco industry might well have a connection with this disturbing fact: In India, Oral Submucous Fibrosis (a pre-malignant condition which restricts the mouth opening resulting in difficulty in chewing solid food) is taking the form of an epidemic, especially among youth, says the Tobacco Control of India. The trend is attributed to chewing gutkha and paan masala which are now being advertised on kites in violation of the Section 5 of the COTP Act.

Dr Kinner Shah, Consultant Cancer Surgeon with Ahmedabad-based International Movement Promoting Action against Cancer and Tobacco (IMPACT), states, "the use of chewing tobacco can cause early loss of teeth and precancerous lesions. It can restrict opening of the mouth and force people to consume "'liquid' throughout their life. It can also cause cancers of various kind. In addition, it can cause all tobacco related illnesses like hypertension and heart attack".

But that's no deterrent for tobacco firms which continue to use alternate advertising tactics to make profits besides selling their products through roadside vendors. Most of these kites entering North Indian markets originate from Bareilly, says Mr Goswami. Also, one will find that many gutkha products advertised on these kites are manufactured in Tripura. That's because northeastern states are offering subsidies to tobacco companies.