India: Anti-smokeless Tobacco Bill to be Tabled in Assembly

Source from:  The Times of India  03/14/2013

The anti-smokeless tobacco bill, which was to be tabled in the ongoing budget session of the legislative assembly but missed the official deadline, may be passed in the house if the cabinet clears it immediately.
 
Replying to a question raised by BJP legislator Ranjit Das, health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that he has sent the bill to the chief minister for approval. "As soon as the chief minister approves the bill and the cabinet passes it, I will bring the bill in the house. I cannot table the bill in the house without the approval of the chief minister," he said.
 
Speaker Pranab Gogoi said since the bill is an important one with regard to public health, he will allow the bill to be tabled even though the government had missed the deadline for tabling it. The budget session ends on April 5.
 
Sarma said the bill intends not just to ban use of smokeless tobacco but its production too. "When the bill is promulgated, incidence of oral cancer in the state will come down by 70 per cent," he said.
 
The government on March 8 issued a notification banning the manufacture, sale, transportation and display of gutka and pan masala containing tobacco and nicotine in the state for a period of one year. Enditem