The sale of loose cigarettes in India could be banned and the minimum age for buyers of tobacco products raised as the Union Health Ministry is likely to move a proposal to the Cabinet to this effect soon.
Health Minister JP Nadda said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha, “the Ministry has accepted the recommendations and a draft note for Cabinet has been circulated for inter-ministerial consultation.”
The panel headed by former Delhi Government principal secretary Ramesh Chandra has also recommended increasing substantially the penalty for violating the rules for carrying pictorial warning signs on cigarette packets.
“The expert panel has recommended prohibition on sale of loose or single stick of cigarette, increasing the minimum legal age for sale of tobacco products... The Ministry has accepted the recommendations of the committee,” Nadda said.
The Ministry’s move is in line with the WHO’s framework convention on tobacco control which States that countries “shall endeavour” to prohibit such sales as it makes them more affordable for minors. India is a signatory to the convention.
The panel has recommended that the fine for smoking in public should be increased to a whopping Rs20,000 from the present Rs200, minimum age for consumption of tobacco products be increased to 25 years from 18 and that public smoking be made cognisable offence.
The proposal is yet to be sent to the Cabinet for approval as the Health Ministry is still awaiting comments from other Ministries.