Patna: Bihar’s Health Minister Mangal Pandey on Tuesday said around 10 crore people chew smokeless tobacco (chew tobacco) across the country. Bihar tops the chart with a gigantic number of 1.75 crores alone.
At a national consultation on ‘Effective Implementation of Measures for Control of Smokeless Tobacco Use in India’ jointly organised by the health department and the National Institute of Cancer Prevention And Research (NICPR) on Tuesday, Pandey issues a statement, “ The government have taken many several measures in the last few years to control the production and distribution of tobacco products in the state.”
He reiterates, “ In May 2012, Bihar became the third state to ban gutka and pan masala (with tobacco and nicotine). In September 2016, the state banned the sale of gutka in twin packs and in October 2018, we put a ban on the use of food or food additives as ingredients in chewing tobacco.”
Health Minister on this occasion has also released the fact sheet of the state headlining ‘Smokeless Tobacco Control: Bihar Experience’ on the occasion.
Health Principal Secretary Sanjay Kumar has claimed that all pan masalas are not from Bihar they are rather brought from other states as their production is banned in Bihar. “Use of smokeless tobacco has become a major concern for the nation, especially the developing states,” he states
