No ban on gutkha till all are heard, says Shotgun

NEW DELHI: The Union government will not press for a ban on gutkha until all sides have been heard, even though some state governments have already gone ahead and banned it.
‘‘At the moment, I am not saying that we will ban it. I am also not saying that we will not ban it,’’ Union minister for health and family welfare Shatrughan Sinha told Times News Network.
He said he was aware of the risks associated with tobacco, especially chewing tobacco.‘‘One-third of all cancer patients (in the world) are in India and 90 per cent of them use chewing tobacco,’’ he said.
Gutkha, sold in small pouches, contains tobacco along with pan masala. It can lead to oral cancer.
Sinha said the decision on gutkha has to be a ‘‘well-debated, well-thought of decision, in the interest of society and the nation’’. He said he would like to do things in a ‘‘very transparent manner’’. The process had already started and he was holding consultations cutting across party lines. Expressing concern over the increase of tobacco-related deaths, Sinha said if not checked, by 2020, it would be the biggest killer. Deaths due to tobacco products would surpass all the other killer diseases.
A draft legislation covers only the use of cigarettes and aims at restricting their use by checking advertising. The health ministry’s parliamentary standing committee has, however, recommended that the scope of the present Bill should be expanded to cover all tobacco products, instead of limiting it to the use of cigarettes, if it were to serve its purpose. In other countries, tobacco may be synonymous with cigarettes, but in India, the bulk of the consumption (84 per cent) is in the form of beedis and chewing tobacco.
The committee also felt that asking only cigarette companies to declare the nicotine and tar contents on the packets will create the impression that other tobacco products do not contain such substances and are, therefore, less harmful. Such a perception could result in consumption shifting from cigarettes to other tobacco products.
It, therefore, recommended that printing of the nicotine and tar contents as well as the maximum permissible limit should be made compulsory on packets/pouches of all tobacco products.