Parliament Winter Session: Lok Sabha Passes Bill To Collect Cess For Health, National Security From Pan Masala; Sitharaman Highlights Tax Reductions

New Delhi: In a big move, The Health Security Se National Security Cess Bill, 2025 was passed in the Lok Sabha today. The Bill's objective is to raise additional funds from what is widely called demerit or sin goods- such as pan masala- for "Health Security" and "National Security."

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman thanked the members for participating in the debate and said that the government wants to ensure that goods with demerits are not cheap. She added, "Public health is a State subject, and defence is on the Central list. We need to raise resources for defence to match today's needs".

In response to some members asking why tax should be imposed on paan masala for the defence budget, she said that as a finance minister, her responsibility is to raise funds. She said "No member would want a lower tax on paan masala," she asked. "Money can be used for anything, but collecting revenue is justified."

The Finance minister added, "Public health is a state domain. National defence is a domain of the Government of India. In this day and age, where credible defence capabilities are absolutely critical, we need to raise resources. Precision weapons, space assets, cyber operations, etc dominate modern conflicts. They are becoming capital-intensive," she said.

Sitharaman in her reply also asserted how her government raised an exemption on personal income tax. "Within one year, we gave a huge reduction in income tax. The Kargil conflict suffered because of a lack of preparedness. Army Generals have said that because of budgetary constraints from the early 1990s, the army was holding only 70-80 per cent of authorised weapons, ammunition and equipment... We don't want that stage ever in India back again," she said.

Sitharaman also stated how Section 7 clearly explains the framework about distribution of the cess and also gave details on cesses collected so far: Cess on crude oil: Money was transferred to the Oil Industry Development Fund; National Calamity Contingent Duty: For disaster rehabilitation; Road and Infrastructure cess on fuel: Money transferred to the Centre Road and Infrastructure Fund; and Health and Education cess: More money transferred than collected.

Other Discussions At Winter Session

The Winter Session of the Parliament entered fifth day today (December 5, 2025) amid constant uproar and adjournments. The session, which commenced on December 1, saw disruptions as the Lok Sabha was adjourned till 12 noon today following DMK MPs protest over Tamil Nadu lamp lighting row. DMK members sought to raise the issue in the House and some of them also protested in the Well of the House.

Furthermore, the cancellation of approximately 500 flights by IndiGo over the last two days came up for discussion in the Rajya Sabha on Friday. Congress member Pramod Tiwari expressed concern over the delay and cancellations. Kiren Rijuju responded to his concerns stating the government was looking into the matter.

Samajwadi Party MP Dimple Yadav also demanded government intervention on the ongoing IndiGo crisis saying that the government should try to improve the situation at the earliest.

Earlier on Thursday, the Parliament approved the Central Excise (Amendment) Bill, 2025, with the Rajya Sabha returning it to the Lok Sabha. FM Nirmala Sitharaman, while replying to the discussion in Rajya Sabha, said the higher duties on cigarettes will be shared with the states.

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