By August 15, this year, 11 districts of Punjab would be declared as “Tobacco Smoke Free”.
Four more districts — Muktsar, Sangrur, Hoshiarpur, and Kapurthala — would get the tag as already seven districts — Ajitgarh (SAS Nagar), Mansa, Amritsar, Rupnagar, Gurdaspur, Fatehgarh Sahib, and Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar (Nawanshahr) — are enjoying the status on the basis of compliance study reports by Chandigarh’s Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER). The move would be a part of State health department’s initiative to declare the entire State as ‘Tobacco Smoke Free’ in a phased manner. With this, 50 per cent of the total population in the State would be “Tobacco Smoke Free” by August 15 this year. “More than 30 per cent of total population of Punjab has been declared as ‘Tobacco Smoke Free’ as per the study by PGIMER and this would go to 50 per cent in the coming two months. By mid-August, four more districts would be declared as ‘tobacco smoke free’,” said Health and Family Welfare Minister Madan Mohan Mittal.Mittal, while reviewing the progress of recently-held meeting of the State level Tobacco Control Committee, said that departments of Health and Family Welfare, Home, Education, Finance, labour, Transport, Railways, Panchayati Raj and Civil Society organizations should strictly follow the guidelines to implement Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA), 2003, to make Punjab as “tobacco smoke free”.”Concerned departments should also send progress reports and hold review meetings on monthly basis,” he added.