Soon after the final bell rings for the day, students of a private school in Chandmari can be seen flocking at nearby shops. While some buy packets of chips and chocolate, a few of them also approach a betel nut shop to buy paan masala.
This is not the sole example of such a school. Despite a ban on the sale of tobacco products within a 100-yard radius outside educational institutions, one can find several shops selling cigarettes and other tobacco products outside schools and colleges in the city.
The Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act (COTPA) which was enacted in 2003, prohibits sale of any tobacco product or cigarettes to anyone below 18 years of age and in an area within a radius of 100 yards of any educational institution. It also prohibits smoking in public places.
Chairperson of the Assam State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (ASCPCR), Sunita Changkakoti, termed the matter as a “serious concern” and said that there is a need for proper monitoring to check the sale of paan masala and other tobacco products to minors.
She added that the ASCPCR conducts talks with school authorities in the city from time to time and flags this issue.
“A few months ago, we had visited a school and found empty packets of paan masala lying around near the toilets. We immediately took up the issue with the school authorities and asked them to ensure that no shops sell tobacco products outside schools and to counsel students,” said Changkakoti.
However, parents remain concerned for their children. “We also find people standing outside such shops and smoking cigarettes which can adversely affect the impressionable minds of the young ones,” said a parent of a child studying in a school in Pan Bazar.
Need stricter implementation of laws: Authorities
Authorities working in the field of child protection have called for a better implementation of the provisions of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2015. It states stricter penalty for those selling cigarettes, beedis and chewable tobacco to minors and mentions a jail term of seven years and a fine of Rs 1 lakh.
Dr Amal Chandra Kataki, Director of Dr B Borooah Cancer Institute had met with Governor Jagdish Mukhi last month and urged him to intensify tobacco control initiative in the state. Dr Kataki said that they are witnessing a rise in the number of youngsters with health issues related to the consumption of tobacco.
They have also appealed to the Governor to undertake an initiative to make all the educational institutes of the state tobacco-free zones.
As per the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS), tobacco consumption in Assam has increased from 39.3 percent in 2010 to 48.2 percent in 2017. On the contrary, the national prevalence of tobacco consumption decreased from 34.6 percent in 2010 to 28.6 percent in 2017.
All other states of the northeast except Sikkim have a high prevalence of tobacco consumption. Due to this, tobacco related cancers (TRC) in the north-eastern states are the highest in the country, as per the National Cancer Registry Programme of the Indian Council of Medical Research.
However, district administration officials said that they conduct regular drives to check sale of cigarettes and tobacco products outside educational institutes.
Pranati Majumdar, ADC Kamrup (Metro) informed, “We have a mechanism in place wherein we conduct monitoring of such shops on a regular basis.”
