After gutka, govt plans to ban chewing tobacco

Aiming to check oral cancer cases, the Delhi government is planning to ban sale of chewing tobacco which is freely available despite there being a ban on other unhealthy products like gutka and pan masala.

Chewing tobacco and gutka, a combination of arecanut, slaked lime, paraffin and katechu along with tobacco, are believed to cause cancer.

The existing ban on gutka is enforced by the food department but there are complaints of blatant violation of the restrictions. The fresh proposal on sale of tobacco is now being anchored by the health department.

 Health Minister Satyendra Jain said: “The government would soon issue a new set of rules that would also make sale of chewing tobacco illegal.”

“We want to plug the legal loopholes which were allowing sale and consumption of chewing tobacco,” said Jain.

The restrictions on sale of gutka products were imposed in 2012 under the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act 2003. A violation invites penalty ranging from a fine of Rs 1,000 to three months imprisonment.

The ban, which included sale, manufacture, distribution, transportation, display and storage of these products, was resulting in a revenue loss of about Rs 50 crore annually. The proposed ban on sale of chewing tobacco is likely to add to the revenue loss to the government.

Despite the ban, which covered pan masalas containing tobacco, these items are available in the grey market. The government’s nearly 15,000 raids every year have failed to deter the unscrupulous sellers.

Officials said the loophole allowed chewing tobacco sale despite a ban on pan masala was sought to be addressed by the Sheila Dikshit government in the last few months of its tenure in 2013.

“A proposal for revised notification on sale of tobacco products was referred to Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung but not much headway could be made due to the model code of conduct coming into force,” said a health department official.

The law prohibits vendors from selling tobacco products within 100 yards of schools, colleges and hospitals. But police and food department officials have not been able to enforce the ban effectively.

The Delhi High Court had earlier ordered the immediate sealing of all outlets which violate the law.

A few years ago, a  survey conducted by an NGO in 726 educational institutions found that tobacco outlets existed near 198.