Gutkha sale, storage, distribution banned

The State Government on Friday formally banned the manufacture, storage, sale  and distribution of Gutkha and Panmasala by invoking the Food Safety and Standards Regulations, 2011 under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, the notification of which had been issued on January 3 last.

 Odisha is the 15th State in the country to ban tobacco. The ban assumes significance as about 40 per cent of all cancer detected cases in the State are caused by chewing of tobacco.

 The January 3 notification had been issued by the Health and Family Welfare Department in pursuance of regulation 2, 3 4 of the Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restrictions on sales) Regulation, 2011 enacted by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India. Any violation of the law would draw penal action which ranges from Rs1 lakh to Rs10 lakh and a jail term from three months to ten years.

 Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr Damodar Rout said the District Collectors would oversee the implementation of the law. The Government through the notification also banned the advertisement for sale of tobacco and authorised police officers not below the rank of Sub Inspectors, Drug Inspectors and Food Inspectors to implement the order in their respective jurisdiction. The District Collectors were asked to organise workshops and sensitise people about the law and the evils of consumption of tobacco related products, he added.