It refers to Supreme Court division-bench rightly passing strictures against Union government that super-powerful tobacco-lobby prevents government to take harsher steps to prevent use of harmful tobacco-products. It was only on initiative of an NGO rather than Union government that stay was vacated on a Mumbai High Court order regarding guidelines on display of tobacco-advertisements in shops.
Unfortunately tobacco-lobby in India is so strong that it even managed super-powered Group of Ministers to dilute area and design of pictorial-warnings on cigarette-packs against wishes of the then Union health Minister Dr A Ramadoss and other senior officials of his ministry. Proportion of pictorial-warning area on cigarette packs in India is lowest in the world with Brazil even having 100-percent area on both front and pack panels of cigarette-packs. In fact, pictorial-warnings however bigger or stringent are totally useless and ineffective for smokers.
Only remedy for effectively curbing smoking is to follow sensible countries like Bhutan and Ireland by imposing a complete ban on manufacture and sale of cigarettes in the country. Revenue-loss from ban on cigarettes will be more than compensated by funds saved on tobacco-related diseases.
—Subhash Chandra Agrawal, 1775 Kucha Lattushah Dariba, Chandni Chowk, Delhi.
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