Bhubaneswar, Jan 8: Taking its fight against gutkha menace a step further, the State Government that recently banned chewing tobacco and ‘paan masala’ has decided to act tough on the violators by rewarding people sharing information on the illegal traders and manufactures of gutkha.
Makaranda Beura, Nodal Officer of Food Safety, said, “A special 24×7 helpline, with a Data Entry Operator and a Programme Assistant on duty, would be set up in all the 30 districts in the State to receive calls from the informers. Shops or manufacturing units would be raided by a special squad following tip-offs in this regard while the informers would be rewarded without disclosing their identity.”
He said the setting up of a helpline has been necessitated after reports of tobacco still being manufactured and sold came in. “Cautious after the ban, the traders have been selling gutkha to the known customers but this should be curbed to make the ban a success.”
Sources in the Health Department echoed the seriousness expressed by the Government in enforcing the ban as the State has the second highest number of oral cancer patients in the country.
Meanwhile, the recent raids on two shops – one at Berhampur and another in Cuttack – have only embarrassed the Health officials as they are clueless about the police action. Moreover, the “over-enthusiasm” of policemen has only surprised them.
“The gusto is understandable but police have started carrying out raids on their own without any guidelines being issued by the Health Department in this regard. Only a squad led by a Food Safety Officer (FSO) and consisting of policemen, not below the rank of a Sub-Inspector, and a Drug Inspector should conduct the raid under Clause 2.3.4 of the Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restrictions on Sales) Regulation 2011,” a Health official said.
But some ‘zealous’ policemen, driven by the news of ban published in the media, have started coming down hard on the violators of law without following the proper procedure, he explained. “Interestingly enough, the Railway Police who raided a shop at the railway station in Behrampur actually had no authority to do so as the agency is controlled by the Centre,” he added.
He said the recruitment of FSOs, who are presently in dearth, would be done first followed by the issuing of guidelines. Many official formalities needed to be completed before finally implementing the ban, he added, pointing out that Uttar Pradesh, which also announced the restriction a few months back, would execute the same only by April.
Orissa is the 18th State to implement the ban and not the 15th one as reported by a section of the media, he observed. PNN
