In four weeks, the State will file a dismal compliance report on implementation of the ban of gutkha and pan masala.
The Supreme Court has directed all 23 States — including Jharkhand — and five Union Territories where gutkha and pan masala are banned to file a report. In Jharkhand, the State health department had on July 24 last year issued a notification for ban on production, storage, distribution and sale of gutkha under the Food Safety & Standards Act, 2006.
However, this notification has been questioned by the Jharkhand High Court when it issued a notice to the Union government on August 24, 2012, asking it to explain whether gutkha was a food product or a product that contains tobacco.
It had also directed both the Central and State Governments to file affidavits and explain whether the ban imposed by the Jharkhand Government on sale of gutkha could be sustained, in response to a writ petition filed by Jagat Enterprises challenging the Government order.
However, Health Secretary K Vidyasagar maintains that after the July 24 notification, the ban on these products officially stands imposed. “We will file a report maintaining that the ban is in place,” he said on Thursday.
However, he was quite candid in accepting that production, storage and sale on gutkha and pan masala has not stopped substantially.
State secretary Rameshwar Singh of Voluntary Health Association of India (VHAI), an organisation campaigning for implementation of the ban, said not much had changed in last few months. “The only change that is visible is that shops have shifted themselves from places near schools and colleges. But in sales have not gone down,” he added.
President of the Federation of Jharkhand Chamber of Commerce & Industries (FJCCI) Ranjeet Tibrewal said though the chamber had not given any promise for ensuring implementation of the ban, it would ask its associate businessmen to follow the ban effectively, if the Government issued a notice for this.
“But if they start a drive against sellers of gutkha and pan masala and confiscate their assets without any prior notification, we will hit the streets,” he cautioned.
The Supreme Court has directed all 23 States — including Jharkhand — and five Union Territories where gutkha and pan masala are banned to file a report. In Jharkhand, the State health department had on July 24 last year issued a notification for ban on production, storage, distribution and sale of gutkha under the Food Safety & Standards Act, 2006.
However, this notification has been questioned by the Jharkhand High Court when it issued a notice to the Union government on August 24, 2012, asking it to explain whether gutkha was a food product or a product that contains tobacco.
It had also directed both the Central and State Governments to file affidavits and explain whether the ban imposed by the Jharkhand Government on sale of gutkha could be sustained, in response to a writ petition filed by Jagat Enterprises challenging the Government order.
However, Health Secretary K Vidyasagar maintains that after the July 24 notification, the ban on these products officially stands imposed. “We will file a report maintaining that the ban is in place,” he said on Thursday.
However, he was quite candid in accepting that production, storage and sale on gutkha and pan masala has not stopped substantially.
State secretary Rameshwar Singh of Voluntary Health Association of India (VHAI), an organisation campaigning for implementation of the ban, said not much had changed in last few months. “The only change that is visible is that shops have shifted themselves from places near schools and colleges. But in sales have not gone down,” he added.
President of the Federation of Jharkhand Chamber of Commerce & Industries (FJCCI) Ranjeet Tibrewal said though the chamber had not given any promise for ensuring implementation of the ban, it would ask its associate businessmen to follow the ban effectively, if the Government issued a notice for this.
“But if they start a drive against sellers of gutkha and pan masala and confiscate their assets without any prior notification, we will hit the streets,” he cautioned.
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