Delhi Govt bans chewable tobacco
30 Mar 2015
The Delhi govt has banned the sale, purchase and even storage of all forms of chewable tobacco including guktka, khaini and zarda in the national capital from Monday.
Delhi health minister Satyendra Jain said, "We have decided to come up with a notification to ban chewable tobacco in all forms from Monday in Delhi. Under this, no one will be allowed to sell, purchase or store chewable tobacco."
Jain said enforcement teams of Delhi Police as well as the state health department have been asked to conduct surprise inspections across the city to ensure that the ban is implemented.
According to the state health department, it was acting on a Delhi government notification in September 2012 in pursuance of series of directions from the Supreme Court to ban gutkha (packaged tobaco) in the city.
To circumvent the notification, which only banned gutka, the tobacco retailers started selling the components of gutka (betel nut and raw tobacco) in separate pouches.
The health department last year mooted the ban all raw chewable tobacco products in Delhi.
Gutka is also being supplied to retailers in Delhi from neighbouring states of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana.