Firms to be fined if staff found smoking

“About one-third of all cancers among Indians is caused by tobacco and nearly 10 lakh people die in the country every year because of tobacco-related diseases. It is, therefore, necessary that we intensify our efforts to discourage people from smoking,” he said.

Talking to reporters after releasing the India Global Youth Tobacco Survey and Global School Personnel Survey, the Minister said the Government was considering setting up an authority to implement the Anti-Tobacco Act.

The two surveys have revealed dangerous trends in the consumption pattern of tobacco in the country and noted that the overall consumption had not decreased in the last three years despite best efforts by the Government.

More disturbing has been the fact that in five out of six regions studied by the survey, there is no significant difference between tobacco use among boys and girls. The sale of tobacco to minors has also not showed any decline despite the Government making it mandatory for all cigarette vendors to stop selling it to minors and also display such a notice at their shops.

Ramadoss said his ministry will launch a Rs 450-crore anti-tobacco campaign to spread awareness among people, especially schoolchildren, about the harmful effects of smoking. Every district administration will also be provided with Rs 4 lakh to carry out this campaign in their areas.

On the positive side, the survey has revealed that passive smoking had decreased from 49 per cent to 40 per cent at the national level between 2003 and 2006. The initiation of smoking before age 10 had also come down significantly from 49 per cent to 37 per cent.