The dentists’ fraternity has wholeheartedly welcomed the State government’s decision to ban gutka in Karnataka.
Lauding
the government for its “bold decision”, dentists said that the decision
has come at the right time, considering the increasing number of oral
cancer cases. “The dentists’ association has been demanding a ban on the
sale of gutka but none of the previous governments responded positively
to the demand,” said Gopalkrishna Bhat, State president of the Indian
Dental Association (IDA).
According to Dr. Bhat, about 90 per cent of the oral cancers were caused by the consumption of tobacco and gutka.
“The
alarming news is that these patients of cancer are aged between 15 and
25 ,” he said, adding that oral cancer had become a bigger problem than
AIDS in India. Refuting arecanut growers’ argument that banning gutka
would adversely affect their earnings, Dr. Bhat said gutka contained
only a small quantity of arecanut. And, while welcoming the ban on
gutka, farmers’ associations have urged the government to help arecanut
growers. Karnataka Pranta Raitha Sangha State president Maruti Manpade
said that arecanut growers do not have to be dependent on the gutka
industry.
“Compared to arecanut, gutka has not been
around for very long. Growers should not oppose the ban, but ask for
better prices and an increase in the import price of arecanut,” he said.
Experts
feel that the government should encourage growers to dabble in
horticulture instead of sticking to arecanut as a long-term solution.
Madan Gopal, Secretary, Health and Family Welfare, told
The Hindu
that the government had appointed 210 food safety officers to look out for the production and sale of gutka.
He
said violators of the ban would be prosecuted under the Food Safety and
Standards Act (FSSA), and face fines of up to Rs. 2 lakh and six
months’ imprisonment.
‘Oral cancer has become a bigger
problem than AIDS’
Violators of ban to face fine up to Rs. 2 lakh
and six months imprisonment
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