STATE TO BAN MANUFACTURE, SALE OF PAAN MASALA AND GUTKA

The state government is likely to ban manufacture and sale of ‘paan masala’ and ‘guthaka’ in the state. The Yogi government has already banned the use of paan masala and tobacco products in the Secretariat and other government buildings housing offices.

Health minister Siddarthnath Singh said on Saturday that the government has already taken a serious view on consumption of the two products and associated health hazards. He said that soon the state government would take measures for closing down factories manufacturing ‘gutkha’ and ‘paan masala’ across the state.

Soon after taking over as Chief Minister on March 19, Yogi Adityanath had banned chewing of paan and guthaka in all government offices in UP. The CM took the decision after an inspection of the Secretariat Annexe housing the CM’s office in March. Yogi was furious when he came across rust-coloured stains of paan and pan masala on stairs of the Secretariat building.

It may be stated her that following orders of Allahabad High Court, the sale and manufacture of paan masala and tobacco mixed guthka, are already banned in the state. Despite the ban, both products are being manufactured and marketed in the state.

In October, 2012, the then Akhilesh Yadav government had imposed a ban on gutkha (paan masala mixed with tobacco) as per the Allahabad High Court order and Food Security Act passed by the Parliament. 

Though the court order was to be effective from April 1, 2013, the state government said that six months time has been given to find other source of employment for people rendered jobless by the ban.

In September, 2012, the Allahabad High court directed the UP government to restrain manufacturing, sale and distribution of ‘gutkha’ in the state. The court passed the order as per provisions of Food Safety Act, while disposing a Public Interest Litigation filed by Indian Dental Association.

As many as 13 states in India have already imposed a ban on the sale of gutkha which is the root cause for oral cancer and has increased manifold in the last few years. The state government was earlier reluctant to ban gutkha because of the massive revenue earnings through sales which is over Rs 300 crore. 

As per an estimate, some 2.5 lakh people are struggling with cancer in UP. Of this, 75,000 are cases of oral and mouth cancer, mainly due to chewing of tobacco, gutkha or paan masala.