<p>Despite efforts by the tobacco lobby to defer its enactment and dilute the scariness of the photo, the government did not take any decision at the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday. This means that the May 17, 2010 notification stipulating the new pictorial warning coming into force across the country on December 1, stands, government sources told Deccan Herald. <br /><br />Manufacturers will now get 15-20 days to print the new warning on cigarette and beedi packets. Responding to a written question in the Rajya Sabha on November 9, Union health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad made it clear that the new warning would be applicable from December 1. But in the absence of any further assertion from the government, confusion on the quality of the picture and possible deferment remained. <br /><br />Azad stated in Parliament that two surveys undertaken by two voluntary organisations in Delhi and Mumbai clearly showed that the existing pictorial warnings do not have the desired impact on smokers and tobacco chewers. <br /><br />The labels used at the moment are considered “inadequate” and “not properly understood,” he said. When the pictorial warnings were introduced two years ago, it was initially decided to bring in scary pictures. <br /><br />But the first two sets of those frightening pictures were eventually replaced by softer ones, thanks to the relentless pressure exerted by the tobacco lobby. Sometime back, the Central government was also reprimanded by the Supreme Court for delaying the implementation of printing scary pictures on cigarette, beedi and chewing tobacco packets.<br /></p>
<p>Despite efforts by the tobacco lobby to defer its enactment and dilute the scariness of the photo, the government did not take any decision at the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday. This means that the May 17, 2010 notification stipulating the new pictorial warning coming into force across the country on December 1, stands, government sources told Deccan Herald. <br /><br />Manufacturers will now get 15-20 days to print the new warning on cigarette and beedi packets. Responding to a written question in the Rajya Sabha on November 9, Union health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad made it clear that the new warning would be applicable from December 1. But in the absence of any further assertion from the government, confusion on the quality of the picture and possible deferment remained. <br /><br />Azad stated in Parliament that two surveys undertaken by two voluntary organisations in Delhi and Mumbai clearly showed that the existing pictorial warnings do not have the desired impact on smokers and tobacco chewers. <br /><br />The labels used at the moment are considered “inadequate” and “not properly understood,” he said. When the pictorial warnings were introduced two years ago, it was initially decided to bring in scary pictures. <br /><br />But the first two sets of those frightening pictures were eventually replaced by softer ones, thanks to the relentless pressure exerted by the tobacco lobby. Sometime back, the Central government was also reprimanded by the Supreme Court for delaying the implementation of printing scary pictures on cigarette, beedi and chewing tobacco packets.<br /></p>
