Ban goes up in smoke

The ban on smoking, which came into force from October 2008, remains ineffective. The Union health ministry’s directive seems to have gone up in smoke in the state.Even as ‘No Tobacco Day’ will be observed on Sunday, the state government has not done enough to enforce the law. The government is caught between the compulsions of making money and playing the moral police.

The state government has neither assigned any special officers nor has it strictly implemented the ban. So far, only 39 cases have been registered and Rs 3,900 was collected as fine by the Hyderabad district medical and health office.Unlike other states where state tobacco cells have been formed, the state government is yet to come up with its own structured tobacco cell despite such a provision being compulsory for every state. There are clear-cut rules on making “no smoking signboards” with certain dimensions but in most public places in the city these norms are not complied with.

Speaking on the initiative taken by the district medical and health officer, Ch. Jaya Kumari, said, “We are opening Tobacco Intervention Initiative Centre (TIIC) and Exclusive Tobacco Cell in the district medical and health office as directed by the WHO.”