HYDERABAD: About 7.29% households in rural Telangana spend their money on pan, tobacco, and intoxicants – highest among all major states in India. Those ahead of it are only the three smaller north-eastern states of Meghalaya, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh.
In fact, almost every home in rural Telangana uses one-sixth of its monthly spending on food items – which is 396.06 of the total 2,358.91 – to consume tobacco and pan, according to the data released by the Household Consumption Expenditure Survey (HCES) 2023-24 of the ministry of statistics and programme implementation (MOSPI).
The national spending average on these products is about 3.84% or 158 a month.
According to doctors, this unhealthy trend is rooted in multiple reasons: easy accessibility, nature of work and lack of awareness.
"Jarda (chewable raw tobacco), for instance, is very easily accessible in rural pockets. Also, many people, mostly women, work in beedi-making units. That also spikes consumption," said Dr E Aravind Kumar, secretary, IMA Kamareddy. He also stressed poor literacy rate as a factor driving this ‘culture' of addictions in rural areas.
Given the concern, Telangana health officials say that they are running a programme to make parts of rural Telangana free of tobacco.
"Under the Centre's ongoing National Tobacco Control Program (NTCP), Telangana plans to designate select villages of aroud five to six as tobacco-free. This initiative is focusing on raising awareness, enforcing tobacco control laws, providing cessation support, and engaging communities in maintaining tobacco-free environments. The success of these pilot villages will be scaled up across the state to reduce tobacco use and promote healthier communities," said R V Karnan, commissioner, health and welfare department.
Urban T fares better
While in comparison to its rural belt, urban Telangana's spending is just about 3.57% every month on tobacco and other intoxicants, as per the national survey, its tobacco usage is still higher than most other bigger states
For instance, states like Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra spend just about 2.9%, 2.5% and 1.12% on such substances, respectively. The national consumption average is 2.37%.
Dr Sudhir Kumar, senior neurologist at Apollo Hospital reiterated easy availability as a key reason for this. "There's a mushrooming of liquor stores in Hyderabad and neighbouring districts with govt issuing more licenses in the last 10 to 20 years. The number of pan shops selling tobacco is even more now as they do not even need any license," he said.
Echoing Dr Kumar's concerns, Dr Aravind said that while the govt is running several campaigns, it must also take action against advertisements promoting tobacco culture, as they influence the youth.