Just when you think things in this country can’t get any more ridiculous, you get proved wrong.
It was decided that starting April 1, 2015, tobacco companies would have to stamp pictorial health warnings on 85% of the surface of cigarette packets in order to remind smokers that the habit is injurious to health, causing various problems, including cancer.
However, a parliamentary committee has recommended more discussion on this issue.
The head of that panel, BJP law-maker Dilip Kumar Gandhi, is of the opinion that India has very little evidence that proves cigarettes cause cancer.
“Does this (smoking) cause cancer or does not? What are the impacts? We have never done our own survey,” he said.
Bhavna Mukhopadhyay, Executive Director of the Voluntary Health Association of India, is of the opinion that in a country where a majority of people cannot read or write, pictorial representations are of incredible importance.
“This is just a front for the tobacco industry, it’s going to affect the bottom line of companies and that’s the smoke screen they have put up,” she added.
Plans of raising the age of tobacco purchases to 25 and banning the selling of unpackaged cigarettes were announced by Health Minister JP Nadda in November 2014, but there has been no progress made on that front.
Some trivia: Around 900,000 people die of tobacco-related illnesses in India each year, the second-highest number after China, and experts predict that could rise to 1.5 million by the end of the decade. Just saying.
Happy April Fool’s Day in advance, you guys,