Smoking ban yields rich dividends

While the Union Health Ministry waits for May 31 to put in practice its ambitious plan of pictorial warnings on all tobacco products,the move to ban smoking in public places seems to have paid rich dividends. Hefty fine amounts collected since the ban was imposed from October 2 last year indicate the strict enforcement of the ban. While Tamil Nadu notched up the biggest collection of 11 lakh,followed by 5 lakh in Maharashtra,officials said that most states had performed well on that front.

Over 9 thousand people have been fined so far. States like Mizoram and Uttar Pradesh UP are also picking up. The collection shows that the plan has been implemented well, a senior official in the ministry said.

While currently Chandigarh is the only smoke free city in India,Delhi,Chennai,Ahmedabad and Mumbai have also committed to become smoke free by 2010. Kottayam,a district with a population of 30 lakh has become the first to completely ban smoking in public places. According to Ministry officials,the district had already banned the sale of smokeless tobacco products even before it was official October 2 ban. This has resulted in some gram panchayats coming forward and pledging to make their villages smoke free. Officials who are overwhelmed by this response are hoping that even their ambitious plan of pictorial warnings will have a similar impact