MUMBAI: Maharashtra on Wednesday banned the sale of gutka and paan masala. The state cabinet approved a proposal for banning the manufacture, storage, distribution and sale of these products.
Following the cabinet nod, the government is expected to officially announce the decision in the legislature on Thursday. While a gutka ban already exists in four states—Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh—Maharashtra will be the first to ban paan masala.TOI was the first to report about the state's plan to ban the two products. A senior cabinet minister said the decision was being taken in the interest of public health. Offenders can face jail time of six months to three years. The state has witnessed a rise in the incidence of oral and other forms of cancer, since a sizeable population is addicted to such products. Health activists and NGOs had been pushing for the ban on the grounds that the addiction was claiming many lives every year. What caught the attention of the government was a recent survey sponsored by it, which showed a significant rise in the consumption of gutka and other tobacco products among children in the 14-16 age group. At least 60% of the respondents were found to be addicted to the products. While the precise extent of pan masala consumption was unavailable, government officials said gutka worth Rs 360 crore was consumed in the state annually. The ban would mean that the state treasury will lose Rs 100 crore in revenue, but ministers said the prospective loss was nothing compared to the lives saved. Even as food and drug administration (FDA) minister Manohar Naik informed the cabinet that the police and FDA officials would be responsible for enforcing the ban, questions remain about the means at the disposal of the government. It must be pointed out that the state machinery has failed to implement the ban on the sale or consumption of tobacco products within 100 metres of educational and religious institutions.
To make it difficult for manufacturers and distributors of the products to obtain a stay on the latest ban, the FDA, which initiated the proposal, has invoked stringent provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, and the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954. According to the fine print, the manufacture, storage, distribution and sale of gutka—found to contain nicotine, tobacco and magnesium carbonate—is being banned in the state, as is paan masala, which contains magnesium carbonate. An attempt to ban the products in 2004 using provisions of the 1954 act had not succeeded.A survey carried out by the FDA previously had found excess magnesium carbonate in 99 of 115 samples of gutka and paan masala.
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