In a bid to check the increasing consumption of tobacco and to create wider awareness on the laws on tobacco control, the Karnataka State Anti-Tobacco Cell roped in the state education department, civil societies and NGOs. The state health and family welfare department, home department and Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) are among the other sectors the cell is currently working with.
Though there is a strict regulation to put up a board specifying that sale of tobacco is prohibited within 100 yards from educational institutions, many of them are yet to comply with the rules.
Some of these institutions have food stalls inside their campus and it is difficult to check if they sell tobacco-related items. By roping in the education department, there will be accountability and if there is any violation in the laws, the department can inform it to the police.
Working towards this effect, the anti-tobacco cell listed a slew of measures to be taken up in the coming days. To begin with, the cell has already started to put a check on the violation of Section 5 of the COTPA 2003, which prohibits brand promotion of all tobacco products. Health minister UT Khadar has laid orders and directed the district health officers to take action against the violaters.
A senior official from the State-Anti Tobaco Cell told dna: “Once the education department chips in for the programme, they will be accountable to send the report to police and accordingly they can be penalised. This will definitely reduce the tobacco usage by about 50-60%. Workplaces, public transport and hotels are other major areas the cell is concentrating on.”
Recently, the KSRTC director BNS Reddy had carried out anti-tobacco drive at two major city bus stops- Majestic and Mysore Road Satellite Bus Station. In a period of 3-4 months, he collected a fine of over `10 lakh for violating Section 4 of the COTPA, which prohibits smoking in public places.
This could be an ideal example for replicating the drive across the state, said the official.
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