The Central government has proposed stopping the sale of loose cigarettes, a five-fold hike in fine for smoking in public places, and doing away with designated smoking places in hotels and restaurants, as the anti-tobacco legislation is set for an overhaul.
An amendment to the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, 2003, has been proposed with the aim of reducing the harmful effects of tobacco consumption.
One of the provisions is prohibiting sale of a single stick of cigarette or other tobacco products. Also, these will not be sold to people under the age of 21.
The age provision was brought into the law following a recommendation of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health. Relying on medical evidence, it asked the Health Ministry to restrict tobacco access to those below 21 years of age.
The fine for smoking and tobacco use in public places has been proposed to be hiked from Rs 200 to Rs 1,000. While the 2003 legislation focused on “smoking”, the term this time is “tobacco use”, in order to address growing public health problems caused by a variety of smokeless tobacco products.
Previously, there was a provision of designated smoking places in hotels and restaurants, which in reality led to mushrooming of hookah bars throughout the country to attract urban youth and commercialisation of hookah, which was earlier a cultural practice limited to rural areas.
In the proposed amendment, the provisions have been done away with, the only exception being international airports, provided there is a separate ventilation system for the smoking room.
According to the 2014 International Tobacco Control project, there are 27.5 crore smokers in India. But the anti-tobacco law failed to make an impact as the penalty is a modest fine of Rs 200.
Tobacco kills more than 10 lakh people each year, and the toll may rise to 15 lakh annually by 2020 if more and more people are not persuaded to kick the butt.
Though the 2003 act has been enforced all over the country, there is no comparative evaluation on the efficacy of its implementation in the states. An overhaul of the law was suggested to curb growing tobacco use, though a section within the ruling BJP had opposed it.