Having faced several hurdles before it could implement the 85 percentage pictorial warnings rules on the tobacco products, the Government on Monday, on the eve of World No Tobacco Day (WNTD), said that plain packaging of such items is not on its agenda for now as demanded by the WHO and activists.

“We have recently enforced the new 85 per cent pictorial warning rules on tobacco products. It’s too early to talk about the plain packaging,” said JP Nadda at a Press conference here on being asked about Ministry’s views on WHO call to make plain packaging of tobacco products mandatory in order to disrupt the psychology of tobacco consumption.

The theme for WNTD 2016 is “Get Ready for Plain Packaging”. Plain packaging builds upon other measures as part of a comprehensive multisectoral approach to tobacco control, as per the WHO.

Additional Secretary CK Mishra added that companies have already started following the new norms (85 per cent pictorial warning rules on tobacco products). Focus should be more on awareness about the ill-health impact of the tobacco items.

Earlier at an event, Nadda had sought the support of civil society organisatons in curbing use of tobacco and asked them to adopt a group of schools and sensitise children about its ill effects as he advocated a “catch them young” approach.

“The idea is to make them aware of the harmful effects of tobacco from the very beginning so that they don’t even start its usage both in smoke or chewing form,” he said.

He was speaking after the launch of a National Tobacco Cessation Quitline to support users wanting to quit. He also released tobacco control awareness tools, including public services advertisements featuring India’s Tobacco Control Ambassador Rahul Dravid.

Dr K Srinath Reddy, President, HRIDAY and Public Health Foundation of India, said this year’s WNTD theme is a clarion call for all countries to strictly implement existing tobacco control measures as he sought plain packaging to deter tobacco consumption.

“Plain packaging is a proven tobacco control measure and countries like Australia, France and the United Kingdom have fought hard against the tobacco industry to implement the law...” Reddy said.

Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, WHO Regional Director for South-East Asia in a statement said that the message isn’t getting through: Tobacco kills.