Meeting of the State-level Steering Committee formed under the Tobacco Control program was organized.
All educational institutions will be made tobacco-free.
For the regulation of the use of tobacco and tobacco-related products in the state, the laws concerned with tobacco control will be stringently implemented.
Effective steps have been taken to make all educational institutions tobacco-free. A meeting of the state-level steering committee, presided over by the Additional Chief Secretary Mrs. Renu G. Pillay, was held in the Mantralay yesterday. In the meeting, Mrs. Pillay gave instructions for the effective implementation of laws related to tobacco-control.
Continuous efforts are being taken by the State Government to discourage the use and consumption of tobacco and tobacco-based products in the state. Still, the consumption of tobacco by adults and children in the state is a cause for concern.
In the meeting of the state-level steering committee, the information about activities undertaken by the Health Department for the regulation of tobacco use was given. The challenges in the path of tobacco control were also discussed.
During the meeting, instructions were given to officers of various departments for rigid compliance to legal provisions for tobacco control like Cotpa Act 2003, Cotpa Chhattisgarh (Amendment) Act -2021, and E-cigarette Prohibition Act – 2019.
In the meeting, discussions were held on making educational institutions tobacco free, tobacco monitoring app, WHO’s FCTC 5.3 Strategy, tobacco-free Village Panchayat, ban on commercials of tobacco products, vendor licensing, and tobacco-free office. The Secretary of the General Administration Department Dr. Kamalpreet Singh, Secretary of Health Department Prasanna R. Director of Healthcare Services Bheem Singh, Secretary of Panchayat and Rural Development Department Mohammad Kaisar Abdulhaq, Special Secretary of School Education Department Rajesh Singh Rana, Director of National Health Mission Bhoskar Vilas Sandipan, and the Nodal Officer of Tobacco Control Program in the state Dr. Kamlesh Jain, representatives of organizations working for tobacco-contol ‘The Union’ and ‘Pahal’, and Senior Officers of various departments of the State Government were present in the meeting