E-Paper
Lok Sabha polling booths in Bihar declared tobacco-free
The tobacco ban at booths would be an effective tool to create mass awareness in a limited time span about the Tobacco Control Law (Cotpa, 2003) and also the ill-effects of tobacco.
Bihar became the second state after Delhi to declare all polling booths for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in the state tobacco free.
Drawing reference to the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (Cotpa), 2003, the chief electoral officer (CEO), Bihar, HR Srinivasa, issued a notification to this effect on Monday. In doing so, he also directed the district election officers and district magistrates in Bihar to put up sign boards of tobacco-free premises at every polling booth.
The Socio Economic and Educational Development Society (Seeds), an NGO working towards reducing the burden of tobacco use, in collaboration with the State Tobacco Control Cell of the State Health Society, Bihar, had petitioned the CEO in this regard.
“Bihar is the second state in the country after Delhi to take this exemplary step, considering the fact that tobacco use is the single largest preventable cause of death that kills nearly 54 lakh people globally and more than 12 lakh Indians every year,” said Deepak Mishra, executive director of Seeds.
“Declaring polling booths tobacco-free would provide an impetus to the anti-tobacco movement in Bihar and also strengthen the ongoing tobacco control initiatives in the state,” he added.
The tobacco ban at booths would be an effective tool to create mass awareness in a limited time span about the Tobacco Control Law (Cotpa, 2003) and also the ill-effects of tobacco, added Mishra.
According to the Global Audit Tobacco Survey, 2017 (GATS-2), 25.9% adults or 1.90 crore (approx.) people in Bihar consume tobacco, of which 23.5% (1.70 crore approx.) use smokeless tobacco.
In India, nearly 15% of young children in 13-15 years of age group use tobacco in some form, according to the Global Youth Tobacco Survey, 2010. Similarly, 27.4% boys and 8.3% girls in the age group of 15-24 years use tobacco, as per the GATS-1 report.
There are altogether 72,723 polling booths for the 40 Lok Sabha constituencies in Bihar. Polling in the state will be conducted in seven phases between April 11 and May 19.
Bihar had in 2014 declared all its booths smoke-free, which meant, one was barred from smoking either cigarette or bidi. In 2018, the Election Commission of India notified that all booths should be made smoke-free. This time, however, Bihar went a step ahead by notifying its polling booths tobacco-free for the Lok Sabha elections, which meant chewing tobacco (khaini) is also banned.
