India: ''Govt hand in glove with tobacco industry''

Source from:  Times of India 07/27/2015

India was one of the countries which were part of an international treaty on 'WHO framework convention for tobacco control' or WHOFCTC of 2003. But it has miserably failed to even initiate the primary steps towards honouring this agreement.

In fact, banning of tobacco, in cigarette form or for that matter in any form, has never been initiated seriously by the Union government, mainly due to the "pressure" from the tobacco industry lobby. "The government is hand in glove with the tobacco industry. That is the reason why it has never let the Committee on Subordinate Legislation or COSL work and come out with its recommendations. How can you have people from the tobacco industry in the committee which is expected to frame legislations against tobacco? But despite the evident conflict of interest, representatives of this industry have always been there in the government decision-making bodies," said Dr Prakash Gupta, an anti-tobacco crusader from Mumbai and the director of Healis Sekhasaria Institute of Health Sciences, Mumbai. Dr Gupta is in the city for a seminar being organized by the RST Regional Cancer Hospital on Sunday to mark the World Head and Neck Cancer Day.

WHOFCTC was adopted by the 56th World Health Assembly on May 21, 2003, and came into force on February 27, 2005. Signed by 168 countries, it is legally binding in 180 ratifying countries. "India ratified the treaty and so it is responsible for abiding by it as per article 5.3. But, unfortunately, instead our government is involving owners of tobacco companies and their lawyers in COSL. This is why the committee has never come out with any recommendations. It is sad that former health minister Anbumani Ramdoss had gone on record to say that he was removed from the ministry under the influence of tobacco industry lobby. In India, 75% share - about Rs40,000 crore investment - of tobacco industry is that of the government itself (ITC) and about 85-90% of the profit in tobacco industry comes from just cigarettes," said Dr Gupta. Enditem