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The Government of India has allocated Rs. 10 billion to help tobacco farmers move to alternate crops like medicinal plants and food crops, Health and Family Minister Anbumani Ramadoss said in a statement, on the sidelines of the 14th World Conference on Tobacco or Health this week. Currently, around 4 million hectares of land is under tobacco cultivation in the country and the government plans to reduce by 50% tobacco production and manufacturing of its products by the year 2020, to comply with the UN Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. The government is also promoting food crops as an alternative to tobacco. The Health Ministry is jointly working with the Commerce and Labour Ministries to help rehabilitate farmers and bidi rollers in the small and cottage industries, the Minister said |
