In a clear pointer to private television producers and broadcasters not effectively implementing the "tobacco-free film rule’ under the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act, a study has shown 22 per cent of television programmes were found to depict tobacco products and 71 per cent of these were broadcast when children and adolescents may have been watching.
As part of the study, researchers pored over 413 hours of randomly selected TV programming across 45 channels and interviewed 3080 people to come out with their findings. One of the recommendations made in the report was to organise a consultation with national stakeholders to agree to a way forward to strengthen the implementation of the “tobacco-free film rule”, particularly on television programs and to identify the most effective administrative channels to ensure the smooth and streamlined implementation of all the key elements of the film rule.
Speaking at a national consultation meeting on tobacco-free rules in films and television programmes held here on Friday, Union Health and Family Welfare Secretary C K Mishra said, “tobacco use is detrimental to all aspects of life and grips the users in the most productive years. We must reverse this tide. An effective way of tobacco control would be to ingrain and indoctrinate the young minds, the children and the youth. If they could be weaned away from tobacco use, we believe that the battle is half won, since the children and youth of today will be the policy and law makers of tomorrow”.
Information and Broadcasting Secretary Ajay Mittal said that tobacco sellers should warn the customers about the ill effects of tobacco.
Maintaining that the film fraternity had been playing an extremely positive and vital role in implementing the tobacco-free film and television policy, WHO representative to India Dr Henk Bekedam said “Our actors are role models who can and do impact behavior, specially of the youth. I would request them to join this movement against tobacco and help save precious lives”. Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) chairman Pahlaj Nihalani suggested that after the national anthem anti-smoking films be shown in film theaters.