Jaipur: On February 10, the Jaipur Police Commissioner had ordered effective enforcement of Cigarette and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, 2003, in all of Jaipur.

The directions rendered to five DCPs, including traffic DCPs, prohibited sale of tobacco and allied products at or within 100 metres of public places like hospitals, courts, public and private offices, hotels and restaurants and especially educational institutions. Particularly, sale of tobacco products to those below 18 years of age and running of pan shops near educational institutions was to be enforced in letter and spirit.

A week after the directive was issued, Team DNA toured the city to see how effectively has the order been enforced on ground. The result, unsurprisingly, was shocking. Nowhere was the enforcement of directive in force.

It’s best example was visible outside the Swasthya Bhawan, the health hub of the state, which importantly also houses the office of state official entrusted with the task of implementing the National Tobacco Control Programme (NTCP). Swasthya Bhawan’s periphery proved to be the ideal cushion for selling of all kinds of tobacco products, spanning from varied brands of gutkha (chewing tobacco) to cigarettes.

Not only the Swasthya Bhawan, but the violation of provisions of the Act was also visible outside the SMS Hospital.

The hospital, which also runs a detoxification/de-addiction centre, doesn’t seem to be bothered about around the eight to 10 shops, both stationary and mobile, selling tobacco products, particularly cigarettes, outside the main gate and the entire boundary wall on either sides of the main gate.

The same saga was repeated outside other places, be it outside Central Park or even outside the District and Sessions Court (Jaipur City).
Two shops, both permanent, sold cigarettes and tobacco products unabated outside the court premises, including one near the sheds of the advocates and other close to the main gate. Unmindful of the provisions of Tobacco Act, both advocates and their clients were seen consuming tobacco products with elan.

Just a few hundred meters from the court, small mobile vends (on tricycle) sold tobacco products outside the main gate of District Collectorate.

A visit to the Sindhi Camp bus station accentuated that while the prohibition of sale of tobacco products was working inside the premises, just near the main gate all kinds of tobacco products were easily available.

The Act also regulates advertising of tobacco products in public places and public vehicles, but some Rajasthan State Road Transport Corporation (RSRTC) buses were seen painted with advertisements of pan masala brands.

Not only the bus station, the periphery of Jaipur Railway Station also told a similar tale; Cigarettes and other tobacco products were available and were being consumed in broad day light under the watchful eyes of cops, who were manning road traffic. These products were available just outside the Gandhi Nagar railway station also.

Perhaps, the most flagrant violation of the tobacco control law was visible, nowhere else, but near the Rajasthan University.
The shops opposite the varsity's main gate display and sell books, but also stock tobacco products, which are available to anyone who asks for them.

These products are also easily available outside the Commerce College and two prominent schools and colleges in Jawahar Nagar and Tilak Nagar localities.

50% Jaipur men chew or smoke tobacco

Every second man in Jaipur is exposed to one form of tobacco or another, show results of a survey recently conducted by the Government of India. The report states 50.5% of the male population in the city consume tobacco-related products.
The average of tobacco users in Rajasthan is 32.3%. Though 2% less than the national average of 34.6%, it offers little consolation to a state battling increasing instances of cancer induced by pollutants.

Against common belief, figures reveal that tobacco is used are more in rural areas.

“There are about 3,095 chemicals present in all tobacco products of which 28 chemicals directly leads to cancer. The enormity of the situation can be gauged from the fact that about 75-80,000 new patients of mouth cancer are registered every year in India,” said Narendra Singh, state consultant, tobacco control, Rajasthan.

In our state full of demure, quiet women, smoking is much higher than India's average. Report states that smoking among women here is 5.3%, which same for Jaipur, almost 2% higher than the national average of 2.9%.

The percentage of women chewing tobacco is even higher than the ones who smoke it! Around 12.9% women are exposed to various tobacco-related products. The figure is lower than the national average of 20.3%.