Soon, smoking only on roads ………Kounteya Sinha | TNN
New Delhi: Desperate to catch a smoke? From next month, youll have to head for the road or a park.
In an interesting directive issued by the Union health ministry under its Prohibition of Smoking in Public Places Rules, 2008, that ban tobacco consumption in government and private buildings from October 2, roads and parks do not come under the definition of a public place. However, cafes, restaurants, schools, pubs or discotheques, stadia, airports, hospitals and bus stands are covered by it.
Those caught smoking in these public places will be fined Rs 200. But health minister A Ramadoss has said the amount will be increased to Rs 1,000 in the future. Organisations that allow employees to smoke within their building premises will have shell out Rs 5,000 for every employee caught smoking.
As per the new rules, hotels with 30 or more rooms and restaurants having a seating capacity of 30 or more must create a separate enclosure for smokers with a separate ventilation arrangement.
Lighting up on roads or parks will save others from the danger of passive smoking. We will empower NGOs, train ticket collectors, bus conductors and school headmasters among others to impose fines. States like Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Gujarat have promised to put in place the regulatory mechanism, Ramadoss said.
According to him, 250-300 million Indians consume tobacco in various forms while around 14.1% schoolgoing children smoke. Research has shown that smoking will kill 10 lakh people in India annually from 2010, Ramadoss said.
Govt plans to stem tobacco cultivation: Ramadoss
Kounteya Sinha | TNNNew Delhi: The Centre has decided to come down heavily on smokers and banned smoking in public places and private buildings from October 2.
At present, we estimate that 40% of Indias health problems stem from tobacco use. So, a ban on smoking is essential to save Indias future. A similar smoke-free policy introduced by England and Scotland last year saw 45,000 people giving up the habit in just 10 months, Union health minister A Ramadoss said.
Meanwhile, tobacco packets will begin to carry pictoral warnings from December 1. The warnings, finalized by a Group of Ministers (GoM) on March 10, will have to cover 40% of all tobacco packs. While cigarette and bidi packs will have to carry either a photo of infected human lungs or an Xray plate of the chest of a cancer-infected person, packets of chewing and smokeless tobacco products will carry a graphic image of a scorpion, depicting cancer. The message Smoking Kills on cigarette and bidi products and Tobacco Kills on smokeless or chewing tobacco products will appear in white font on a red background.
The Centre is also looking at stemming tobacco cultivation. The health ministry is trying to introduce alternate cropping patterns like medicinal plants for people growing tobacco.
The CCEA recently approved Rs 600 crore for the National Medicinal Plants Board (NMPB). We have asked the NMPB to discuss with the National Tobacco Board how to get tobacco growers to shift to more nutritional crops, Ramadoss said.