New Delhi, Jul 27 (PTI) RSS-affiliate Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh on Monday welcomed the government's decision to withdraw its order to make pictorial warning mandatory on Beedi bundles and wholesale pack of cigarettes.

"The government has withdrawn mandatory 100 per cent four colour pictorial warning on multiple packs of cigarettes (carton or pack of 10, 100 etc) and single as well as multiple packs of beedi. This would give big relief to tendu leaves farmers and beedi workers," BMS Zonal Secretary Pawan Kumar told PTI.

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In a statement issued by the BMS, the union also claimed that the pictorial warning notification on certain packs of tobacco products is withdrawn due to its efforts.

As per a new notification issued on July 21, the pictorial warning on wholesale packaging has been cancelled, the union said.

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According to the statement, the Health Ministry has withdrawn its notification issued on April 13, 2020, which made mandatory four colour printing of pictorial warning on all types of packaging materials including wholesale packages which a consumer cannot see.

The union stated that around two crores of Beedi industry dependents and Tendu leaf pluckers will have "a sigh of relief" by this decision of the Government of India.

BMS expresses it's sincere thanks to both Health Ministry and Labour Ministry for their timely action and understanding the problems of Beedi workers who consists mostly rural poor & urban slums also belongs to SC/ST/OBC and Muslim women, it added.

At the same time, BMS also expresses its gratitude to BJP President J P Nadda for his timely intervention which made things very smooth, it said in a statement.

The Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) had strongly opposed this notification as it could hamper the livelihoods of millions of Beedi industry dependents and requested Union Health Minister Harshvardhan to withdraw the notification immediately.

In this regard, BMS wrote letters to Health Minister , Labour Minister and also to JP Nadda, President BJP, requesting them to intervene and bring justice. Since June delegations met different officials requesting them to withdraw the Notification.

The Akhil Bharatiya Beedi Mazdoor Mahasangh of BMS had contacted different Beedi manufactures and impressed upon them for the need of joint efforts to save the Beedi industry for which the All India Beedi Industries Federation (AIBIF ) too agreed. Pressure has mounted on the Government by both Employees and Employers.

As a result of continuous and relentless efforts of BMS, the Health Ministry has withdrawn the notification issued on April 13, 2020, and brought a new Notification on July 21, 2020.

As per the new notification, the pictorial warning on wholesale packaging has been cancelled.

The BMS also requested the Government of India to separate Beedi from other tobacco products and also to provide at least 20 days of job per month per person throughout the country.

The BMS also demanded the Government of India to call an Inter-ministerial meeting to comprehensively think on the measures needed to protect the Beedi industry.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)