India, April 24 -- By Dr. Abhay Bang:

The district of Gadchiroli has 1.2 million people, spread across 1,500 villages and three towns. A district sample survey we carried out in the years 2015 and 2016 showed that 41 percent of men had consumed alcohol in the past 12 months, spending a total of INR 80 crore. In the case of tobacco, 44 percent of people from across the district-men, women, and children-had spent annually a total of INR 298 crore of their own money on their addiction.

The annual district plan of the government in the same year was INR 157 crore, less than half of what poor people were spending, out of their own pockets, on tobacco and alcohol. This brought to light an interesting yet sad insight: tobacco and alcohol not o...