The ban on the storage, manufacture
and sale of gutka and other tobacco and nicotine products - implemented in
almost all parts of the country - aimed at protecting public health and
reducing the cases of oral cancer in the country.
The ban comes under the regulation
2,3, 4 of the Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restrictions on Sale)
Act, 2011. But a visit to a pan shop punctures all the tall claims of the
government as manufacturers and vendors, taking advantage of the loopholes in
the ban, are selling the banned products.
A distributor of pan masala and
tobacco says, “Gutka was banned but we are selling pan masala (a mouth
freshener) and zarda (chewable tobacco) in separate sachets; it is not at all
illegal. It is a good complementary for gutka and the demand for it is also
high.”
How can the government frame a
policy so blindly that the manufacturers are able to flout it openly right
under their nose?
Gutka is a mixture of 10 percent
tobacco and 90 percent beetle-nut. And the ban was imposed on a food product (gutka),
which contains nicotine. Although beetle-nut independently is carcinogenic,
defective and addictive still it is not banned because it does not contain
nicotine, and is sold freely in the form of pan masala. And the chewable
tobacco (zarda), which again contains nicotine, can also be sold separately as
tobacco is an agricultural product and cannot be banned when sold separately.
Were the laws to ban gutka just a show-off? There are many such questions that
are being raised on this issue. When this citizen
journalist asked about this issue to VB Patil, Food and safety
commissioner, Karnataka, he said, “We are sensitizing people on this issue, and
our field officers are working on this issue.”
The government is taking minimal
interest in framing and implementing such laws, which are meant for public
welfare. Dr. Pankaj Chaturvedi, head and neck surgeon, Tata Memorial Hospital,
and a anti-tobacco activist, said, “The ban on gutka was largely for the
vulnerable group like children and ladies. The hardcore addicts of gutka cannot
be stopped, they somehow manage to take get it. They almost pay double or
triple the amount to get it.”
He claimed the consumption has
decreased as the prices have gone up after manufacturers started selling pan
masala and zarda in two different sachets.
All the banned and prohibited items
are being supplied, just with a small change. This is all because of the laws
that are not being implemented properly. The current laws on Food safety
regulation and Food safety act of India are not correctly framed. There is a need
to amend these laws, and to implement the ban on gutka in an effective manner.
The
ban on the storage, manufacture and sale of gutka and other tobacco and
nicotine products - implemented in almost all parts of the country -
aimed at protecting public health and reducing the cases of oral cancer
in the country.
The ban comes under the regulation 2,3, 4 of the Food Safety and
Standards (Prohibition and Restrictions on Sale) Act, 2011. But a visit
to a pan shop punctures all the tall claims of the government as
manufacturers and vendors, taking advantage of the loopholes in the ban,
are selling the banned products.
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The
ban on the storage, manufacture and sale of gutka and other tobacco and
nicotine products - implemented in almost all parts of the country -
aimed at protecting public health and reducing the cases of oral cancer
in the country.
The ban comes under the regulation 2,3, 4 of the Food Safety and
Standards (Prohibition and Restrictions on Sale) Act, 2011. But a visit
to a pan shop punctures all the tall claims of the government as
manufacturers and vendors, taking advantage of the loopholes in the ban,
are selling the banned products.
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