Karnataka becomes 26th state to ban gutkha

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  Health Minister U T Khader and Medical Education Minister Sharan Prakash Patil interacting with students at World No Tobacco Day programme at NIMHANS in Bangalore on Friday | Nagaraja Gadekal

Karnataka became the 26th state to ban sale, manufacture, storage and distribution of gutka and paan masala. The ban was announced on Friday with immediate effect. It is also in place in five union territories.

Marking World Tobacco Day, Minister of Health and Family Welfare U T Khader said: “The department will soon shut down units that manufacture these products. We are  yet to decide on the penalties to be imposed on those who fail to comply with the ban.”

Khader, however, promised areca growers that the ban will not affect their livelihood. “The quantity of local arecanut in gutka and paan masala is very less, they use imported areca. The demand for areca is only set to increase,” he said.

The move to ban comes following the Supreme Court decision to include gutka and paan masala as food products.

However, based on the Food Safety and Standards Act-2006, the Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restrictions on Sales) Regulations-2011  (2.3.4) prohibit the sale of articles that contain nicotine and gutka as ingredients as they are injurious to health.

“The manufacture, storage, sale or distribution of gutka and paan masala containing tobacco or nicotine as ingredients, by whatsoever name it is available in the market, is hereby prohibited in the state with immediate effect in the interest of public health,” said a notification from V B Patil, Food Safety Commissioner, who is in-charge of the effective implementation of the regulations under the Food Safety Act.

Madan Gopal, Principal Secretary, Health and Family Welfare, said the decision was not a hasty one.

“We decided to impose it after a high power committee sat and deliberated on the issue that’s impacting millions of lives in Karnataka,” he clarified to reporters.

‘Nurses’ Row to be sorted out’

Medical Education Minister Sharan Prakash Patil said that he will soon look into the issue of the 400 plus contract nurses under the Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute (BMCRI) who were recently terminated from their services. Patil said,”The issue has been a controversial one. I will look into it on compassionate grounds and try to employ them again,” he said.