Sources said that in a stern message Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked the parliamentary committees not to include members, who could have a conflict of interest in studying and submitting report over the ill effects of tobacco.
In the middle of the meet, Modi has asked Union Health Minister JP Nadda to be firm on enforcing of “larger pictorial warnings” on cigarette packets. This was supposed to be incorporated earlier, but it could be done because the parliamentary committee claimed that no local evidence was found, suggesting that smoking causes cancer.
The committee also expressed concern that thousands of people involved with the tobacco industry will lose their livelihood under such strict measures. However, dismayed with the logic, Modi has asked Nadda to go ahead with the warning at the earliest with a rehabilitation package for those involved with the industry.
The message from the Prime Minister is a clear indication that NDA is not going to be bowed down under the pressure from various tobacco lobbies politically active in India.
Unlike the previous decision to cover cigarette packets with more space, this time it was decided to implement more than 50 per cent of warning labels on packets. Earlier, the Health Ministry had advised that 85 per cent of packaging should carry a depiction of the damage done by smoking from April 1 onwards. “But, in the meet it was decided that a little more than 50 per cent would be depicted on the packet. A section of members the meeting demanded that the BJP government should not entertain the tobacco lobby backed by foreign players,” a member of National Executive said.
Another member of the committee S C Gupta, who himself is a tobacco baron, remained mum, when another section demanded a ban in tobacco. He was discouraged by senior party leaders, including the party president when he compared tobacco with sugar. “Sugar causes diabetes; why we are not banning sugar in India?” he was heard saying.
Recently, a statistic revealed by the government claimed that more than one lakh people die every year due to tobacco consumption. It was learnt that majority of the members present in the meet supported Modi’s anti-tobacco decision.
In the middle of the meet, Modi has asked Union Health Minister JP Nadda to be firm on enforcing of “larger pictorial warnings” on cigarette packets. This was supposed to be incorporated earlier, but it could be done because the parliamentary committee claimed that no local evidence was found, suggesting that smoking causes cancer.
The committee also expressed concern that thousands of people involved with the tobacco industry will lose their livelihood under such strict measures. However, dismayed with the logic, Modi has asked Nadda to go ahead with the warning at the earliest with a rehabilitation package for those involved with the industry.
The message from the Prime Minister is a clear indication that NDA is not going to be bowed down under the pressure from various tobacco lobbies politically active in India.
Unlike the previous decision to cover cigarette packets with more space, this time it was decided to implement more than 50 per cent of warning labels on packets. Earlier, the Health Ministry had advised that 85 per cent of packaging should carry a depiction of the damage done by smoking from April 1 onwards. “But, in the meet it was decided that a little more than 50 per cent would be depicted on the packet. A section of members the meeting demanded that the BJP government should not entertain the tobacco lobby backed by foreign players,” a member of National Executive said.
Another member of the committee S C Gupta, who himself is a tobacco baron, remained mum, when another section demanded a ban in tobacco. He was discouraged by senior party leaders, including the party president when he compared tobacco with sugar. “Sugar causes diabetes; why we are not banning sugar in India?” he was heard saying.
Recently, a statistic revealed by the government claimed that more than one lakh people die every year due to tobacco consumption. It was learnt that majority of the members present in the meet supported Modi’s anti-tobacco decision.