Hukka users have the last laugh

Amitabh Shukla

New Delhi, April 24

Those who enjoy hukka (tobacco, smoked through a filter of water) can now sit and relax. The Delhi government has decided to take back the 12.5 percent Value Added Tax (VAT) which it had imposed on raw tobacco used to fill the chamber of hukka.

The decision was taken following representation from the villagers who told the Finance Minister A.K. Walia that smoking hukka was part of the culture of Delhi villages and should not be taxed. “The government has already exempted beedis from any VAT and it is illogical to impose it on tobacco used in hukka,” said Ramesh Bidhuri, MLA from Tughlaqabad who still resides in a village.

Two Delhi MLAs – Surinder Kumar and Balram Tanwar met Walia with a group of villagers who enjoy their hukka everyday. “This is part of the social life of 360 Delhi villages. Villagers sit in a group, pass the hukka around, smoke it and discuss the latest gossip,” said Kumar.

The villagers said that even the women in the villages enjoy a miniature form of hukka, kept in the kitchen. “As the tobacco smoke is filtered through water, the harmful impact of nicotine is reduced to a large extent,” claimed Sunder Singh, a villager from Mehrauli.

Principal Secretary (Finance) V.V. Bhatt who was in the meeting, saw no difficulty in adding a clause saying that tobacco used for hukka be exempted from any tax. He instructed his officials in the Finance Departmentto add a clause and amend the tax proposal by levying 0 percent tax in the tobacco used in hukka.

Walia said: “There is hardly much tax implication involved. Then the question pertained to the sentiments of the villagers”. The minister said the decision would be notified in due course.

Officials could not ascertain the quantity of tobacco used in hukka which is sold in the city. However, they said fine quality tobacco used for hukka smoke sells for Rs 25 per kg in Delhi. (2007)