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| Best gift on Gandhi Jayanti | | | | No other salutation could have been befitting for the father of the nation –Mahatma Gandhi –on his birth anniversary than what Union Health Minister Dr Ambumani Ramodoss has offered to the people of this country. In Jammu and Kashmir, the state government is yet to clarify on rules and procedures of enforcing ban but the kind of publicity this campaign has come with has already created a public consciousness. The Supreme Court has also made sure that the ban is not nullified by any orders from lower courts where too it has been challenged. The government order is in pursuance of a 2003 law, which was framed in accordance with an earlier Supreme Court order banning smoking in public places. The definition of a public place has now been widened to include even spaces within private companies. The argument that such places cannot be called public is not correct, because the space is shared with others and is not the private domain of the smoker. The harmful effects of smoking on the health of the smoker and those who happen to inhale the smoke are well documented and need not be proved all over again to justify the government’s pro-active efforts to curb the habit. It is a major killer taking a toll of hundreds of thousands of lives every year all over the world and causing health problems to many more people. A wide variety of diseases, including cancer and heart problems, are known to be caused by smoking and the use of tobacco in other forms like paan-chewing. The world over governments and public health authorities have taken steps to discourage the use of tobacco products and they have helped to curb the habit. Smoking endangers the health of not only smokers but of others too who are forced to inhale the smoke. It is wrong to claim that smoking cannot be banned because it amounts to curbing the fundamental right of a citizen. Everybody’s freedom ends where another person’s nose begins. The ban should be enforced strictly in the interest of public health. The existing restrictions on smoking in public places are not implemented properly and those who are expected to ensure its implementation are found violating the ban. It is the duty of all those who are concerned with public health to ensure that the ban does not remain an order written in smoke. It envisages deterrent punishment of those who violate the ban. This should be only one aspect of the efforts to dissuade people from smoking. It is more important to create greater public awareness among the public, especially children, about the dangers of using tobacco products in any form, so that addicts voluntarily give up the habit and no one gets addicted too. |
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