DU to have rehab for liquor, tobacco addict students

NEW DELHI: When it comes to sending out an anti-smoking message, there’s no stopping Anbumani Ramadoss. Despite the high-tension drama in parliament on Tuesday, the Union health minister took time out to make his presence felt at an anti-tobacco campaign at Delhi University.

Ramadoss joined the campaign by Delhi University Student Union (DUSU) for a smoke-free campus and also announced the setting up of an on-campus rehabilitation centre to help students quit smoking and drinking. It would be the first such university centre in the country.

World Lung Organisation estimates of the 40,000 students in the north campus of the elite university, 24% boys and 7% girls smoke. The demand to set up a rehabilitation centre to help students “kick the butt” had been long pending with the Centre. Not surprisingly, Ramadoss’ announcement was met with tremendous applause.

DUSU president Amrita Bahri said, “The central government’s assurance is welcome as it was our long-pending demand.”

The Delhi government is also taking initiatives to curb smoking in the capital. Chief minister Sheila Dikshit has set a target to turn Delhi “smoke-free” before the Commonwealth Games in 2010.

Ramadoss also used the anti-smoking campaign to again lash out at the entertainment industry for “promoting tobacco consumption”.

“Actors such as Shah Rukh Khan and Amitabh Bachchan, who are brand ambassadors for health programmes such as national rural health mission and the polio campaign, should avoid smoking on screen,” he said, adding, “This is important as movies
contribute almost 52% to the promotion of the killer habit.” 

y_puneet@dnaindia.net