New Delhi, April 30: Smokers are becoming a minority, according to a survey on consumer behaviour.

“Per capita consumption of bidis dropped substantially in rural and urban areas. The overall fall from 1993-94 to 2004-05 is about 31 per cent in rural areas and 42 per cent in urban areas,” said the study conducted by the National Sample Survey Organisation.

The proportion of households with at least one bidi smoker has gone down by 26 per cent in rural India and 35 per cent in urban areas.

In case of cigarettes, the drop in urban India is 30 per cent between 1993-94 and 2004-05. In rural areas, too, there has been a marginal decline.

Experts said the survey’s findings fit in with worldwide trends of decreasing tobacco use among adults, but warned that the number of smokers below 18 appears unchanged.

“Most of the cigarette and tobacco promotion today is targeting the youth,” said Dhirendra Sinha, a consultant with the tobacco-free initiative at the World Health Organisation’s Southeast Asia regional office in Delhi.

He said an independent survey has shown no change in tobacco use among people between 13 and 15 years of age over the past three years.

“The global youth survey 2003 to 2006 has shown high prevalence of tobacco use among students, increasing use among girls, and no change in access to minors,” Sinha said. “The only good thing is that exposure to second-hand smoke has decreased over the past three years.”

The government is planning to set up a regulatory authority for effective implementation of anti-tobacco laws.

The National Tobacco Regulatory Body, to be formed under the 11th five year plan, will make sure the anti-tobacco act is being strictly enforced.

“It will be an independent body and will co-ordinate between states and the tobacco industry,” health minister Anbumani Ramadoss said.

He said a stringent enforcement of the act was necessary because 40 per cent of the country’s health problems was due to tobacco.

The survey also says chewing paan has gone up in rural areas with the per capita consumption rising by 28 per cent between 1993-94 and 2004-05. In urban areas, paan consumption declined by 18 per cent.

If Indians are cutting down on cigarettes, they are spending more on ready-made garments. According to the survey, the number of families buying such clothes has increased by 75 per cent during the period.

Similarly, purchase of hosiery in urban as well as rural areas has shown a three-fold increase since 1993-94, said the survey.