Gogoi rules out bill to ban tobacco

Guwahati, March 16: Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi today said there was no need for a new legislation to ban tobacco products in Assam as the existing Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, was enough.

"I have already issued a ban on tobacco products under the food safety act. Many states have done so and a new bill in this regard is not required. Even if we pass the new bill, someone may challenge it in a court and the process will get delayed. The food safety act was also challeged but the Supreme Court had upheld the legislation," Gogoi told reporters at the state secretariat here today.

Gogoi's statement comes in the wake of state health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma's announcement a couple of days ago that a new bill to ban all smokeless tobacco products would be tabled in the ongoing budget session of the Assembly.

The chief minister had earlier asked the health department to ban tobacco products, following which the department had issued a notification on March 8 prohibiting sale, display, storage or manufacture of tobacco products and food articles having nicotine as an ingredient in Assam with immediate effect for a period of one year.
The Northeast, especially Assam, has the highest prevalence of cancer, mostly oral, owing to consumption of chewing tobacco products.
Gogoi today said the government would soon issue an official notification after going through the ground rules being followed in states like Kerala, Maharashtra and Bihar, which have already banned tobacco products under the food safety act.

Sources in Dispur said Gogoi's statement on the tobacco ban was a stern message to the health minister, who is alleged to be involved in the current "dissidence" in the state Congress that involves several disgruntled legislators, who are reportedly raring to air their grievances to the AICC.

Gogoi said he was not informed though the Union health ministry had sent a letter to the chief secretary in August 2012 seeking a ban on guthka products under the food safety act. "I came to know about the letter when Pawan Singh Ghatowar (DoNER minister) sent a letter in December last year asking about the need for the tobacco ban. I immediately decided to ban tobacco products, as their consumption was causing cancer and taking lives."
On the revenue loss the state would incur owing to the ban, Gogoi said, "I have been told that we will lose around Rs 20 crore annually but I have decided to go ahead with the ban keeping in mind the serious health impact."