The West Bengal government has announced a one-year ban on the manufacture, storage and sale of gutkha and pan masala that contain tobacco as an ingredient. This ban imposed by the state government will be effective from November 7, 2021 for the next one year. According to the notification issued by the Health Department of West Bengal, this decision has been taken keeping in mind the health of the people.
Notably, the ban on gutkha and pan masala was imposed one year ago. New guidelines have been issued before the end of that period. In the notification issued by the state government, it has been said that tobacco products including gutkha, pan-masala are very injurious to health because nicotine is found in high amounts in tobacco substances. The notification read that “the manufacture, storage, sale or distribution of gutkha and pan masala containing tobacco and/or nicotine as ingredients, by whatsoever name it is available in the market, is hereby prohibited for a period of one year with effect from 7th November 2021.”
The notification also states that Section 30 of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 empowers the Commissioner of Food Safety to impose such restrictions on the manufacture, storage, distribution or sale of any article of food throughout the State, under which the Bengal government has taken this decision.
Prior to this, in many states of the country, there have been restrictions on selling nicotine mixed gutkha or pan masala. Among the states where gutkha and pan masala have been banned are Uttarakhand, Bihar, Delhi and UP. These restrictions are first imposed for one year and they are extended later.
