After Delhi High Court last month sought response from the Centre and state government on a PIL seeking to enforce complete ban on sale of tobacco and cigarettes near educational institutions in the national capital, government agencies have reportedly geared up for law enforcement.
The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare recently issued a letter to the chief secretary of Delhi, among others, to develop a mechanism for granting permission/authorisation through municipal authorities to tobacco sellers. The ministry also sought a provision that retail shops authorised for selling tobacco products could not sell non-tobacco products.
The Union Government in order to shield children from the menace of tobacco products has appealed to state municipal authorities to ensure sale of tobacco through authorised shops only and that those shops should not sell toffees, candies et al.
Though sale of tobacco products to minors is banned, many shops lure children by prominently displaying a range of toffees, candies, biscuits many of which are made by tobacco manufacturing companies. That it is felt becomes a subterfuge for introducing tobacco to children, which would otherwise remain beyond their reach. The list of toffees candies, lollypops, chewing gum etc that tobacco companies manufacture such as ITC (Minto, Sunfeast, Bingo, Candyman) DS Group (Pulse) are available in practically all tobacco shops.
The state government, pursuant to GOI advisory, is understood to be exploring local municipal laws to ensure sale of tobacco products is from authorised shops only and that they do not sell anything to children.
While the government boasts of taking several stringent measures to curb the menace of tobacco products, sale of tobacco products in shops near schools and colleges is seen to be high. Tobacco is openly available near educational institutions even though a ban exists on its sale within 100 metres of campus. Shops selling such products near schools in the city violate the Cigarette and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA), 2003.
As per Section 6 of the COTPA, there is a ban on the sale of tobacco to and by minors and prohibition on sale of tobacco products within 100 yards of educational institutions.
Under Section 6 (b) of COTPA, the sale of tobacco products is prohibited in an area within a radius of 100 metres of any educational institutions and mandatory signage in this regard should be displayed prominently near the main gate and the boundary wall of the school/institute.
“Every day 5,500 children get lured into tobacco addiction and one-third of them put their life at risk as a consequence, inviting cancer, heart attack and asthma, to name a few. To curb this menace we have a COTPA law which prohibits sale of tobacco products within 100m radius of educational institutions and to minors. Let’s save our future generations” said Dr Harit Chaturvedi of Max Health Care, New Delhi
A bench of acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar, it may be recounted, had issued notice to the Education Department and all civic bodies, directing them to file their reports on the allegations raised in the PIL. The bench said: “It is a really important issue” and asked the authorities to place their stand before it by the next date of hearing on 30 January next year.
According to Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS) carried out by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), Government of India, 14.6 per cent students in age group 13-15 years use tobacco in India. Of them, 8.1 per cent smoke. As many as 11 per cent male students surveyed were found to be users of tobacco, while 6 per cent of girl students used smokeless tobacco and 3.7 per cent smoked tobacco.
According to the MoHFW, nearly 37 per cent children in India initiate smoking before the age of 10 and each day, 5,500 children are introduced to tobacco.