Amritsar Vikas Manch demands removal of tobacco, meat shops

Despite a nod to the proposal to shift tobacco and meat shops out of the municipal limits, particularly those in the vicinity of the Golden Temple, the shops were yet to be removed, claimed Charanjit Singh Gumtala, patron, Amritsar Vikas Manch (AVM), while demanding the implementation of a 1981 resolution in this regard.

Despite a nod to the proposal to shift tobacco and meat shops out of the municipal limits, particularly those in the vicinity of the Golden Temple, the shops were yet to be removed, claimed Charanjit Singh Gumtala, patron, Amritsar Vikas Manch (AVM), while demanding the implementation of a 1981 resolution in this regard.

The-global-tobacco-epidemic-kills-nearly-six-million-people-each-year-Agency-photo

“The meeting was attended by at least 37 eminent personalities from Punjab, who unanimously passed the decision to remove tobacco and meat shops falling within the 300-metre radius of the Golden Temple and to ban sale and purchase of these products here. A time period of one-year was fixed for removing the shops,” said Gumtala.

An action was initiated after passing the proposal, he said, but after the Operation Bluestar no further action was taken.

Gumtala urged the authorities concerned to provide information about the measures taken for the removal of these shops in the past more than three decades.