Strict enforcement of gutka ban sought

Activists say chewable tobacco is still available in the vicinity of schools and minors have access to it

The enforcement of the ban on the manufacture, storage, sale or distribution of pan masala and gutka containing tobacco and nicotine, seems to be an uphill battle. In 2015-16, the Food Safety Department seized a total of 62,175 kg of banned products across the State. However, activists said the products continue to be available.

Madan Kumar, president, Indian Association of Public Health Dentistry, Tamil Nadu, said chewing tobacco continues to be very much available in the market. “What is distressing is that it is even available in the vicinity of schools, and minors have access to it.”

A survey by Children Against Tobacco, a student movement of 22 schools in Chennai , both government and private, found that in every school, there was a violation of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act, 2003, which prohibits the sale of tobacco products within 100 yards of an educational institution, said a note from S. Cyril Alexander, State convener, Tamil Nadu People’s Forum for Tobacco Control.

“Sale of gutka is continuing with packets being sold at a 100 per cent increase in the price. There is no fear because there is no proper enforcement. Action should be taken at the primary level and agents and company officials should be penalised. If it is coming in from other States, there have to be checks at entry-level points. Right now, the government is seizing and destroying the products, but where is the penalty,” asked E. Vidhubala, head, Resource Centre for Tobacco Control, Cancer Institute, Adyar.

The gutka and pan masala ban came into effect in June 2013. It is extended yearly and was extended this year too on May 23. However, a total of only 14 civil cases and two criminal cases have been filed. Nine cases have ended in conviction. Penalties imposed have come to Rs. 2,37,500. A senior official of the Food Safety and Drug Administration Department said that it was mainly wholesalers who had been charged. “The fine is not a major amount, but the seizures are huge,” he pointed out. Food safety officials said that the court process is long and difficult. Mostly, the banned items are tested for tobacco/nicotine, and then destroyed. “Over the last two years, the number of banned products entering the State has reduced,” an official said.

Another official said that methods to bring in and sell the products too kept changing.