Punjab Government on Wednesday formally declared its three more districts — Sri Muktsar Sahib, Sangrur and Bathinda — as ‘Tobacco Smoke Free’. With this, total number of ‘Tobacco Smoke Free’ districts in Punjab has reached to 10.
Already, the state government has declared Ajitgarh (Mohali), Mansa, Amritsar, Roopnagar (Ropar), Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar (Nawanshahr), Fatehgarh Sahib and Gurdaspur as tobacco smoke free. PNS Announcing this, the state Health and Family Welfare Minister Madan Mohan Mittal said that decision was taken in view of occasion of Independence Day. School of Public Health PGIMER, Chandigarh was entrusted with the task of conducting a compliance survey and opinion poll to verify the compliance of Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA), 2003.
Dr Rakesh Kumar Gupta, State Program Officer, Tobacco Control Cell, said that consistent efforts are being made to make entire Punjab ‘Tobacco Smoke Free’ in a phased manner.