Health department principal secretary Amarjeet Sinha addresses the meet in Patna on Monday. Picture by Jai Prakash

The state government is planning to make Patna “smoke free”, on the lines of cities like Chandigarh and Shimla.

The administration, however, has failed to prosecute a single person for smoking in public place in the past one year since the ban was announced by the health department under Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA), 2003.

Various members of State Tobacco Control Coordination Committee (STCCC) on Monday expressed concern over non-compliance to the various sections of COTPA in the state. STTCC chairperson and principal secretary (health) Amarjeet Sinha said the government would work in the direction of making the city smoke free after regulating the implementation of the act in the state.

In its April 30, 2012 edition, The Telegraph had highlighted that close to a year after the state health department invoked ban on smoking at public places in the state, not a single defaulter has been prosecuted.

In the first meeting of the STCCC — ever since it was constituted by Governor Devanand Konwar a month ago — Sinha said tobacco control is among the top priorities of the government. The state has been taking up the matter of enforcement of Section 4 of COTPA — which rules that people smoking in public places can be fined up to Rs 200 — with the senior police officers.

In the meeting organised by the state health society, in collaboration with its NGO partner Socio Economic and Educational Development Society and some other organisations, participants agreed that a joint effort by departments of home, education, health, sales tax and others is required for the effective implementation of the act.

The meeting discussed Global Adult Tobacco Survey, India, report, which said 54 per cent people in Bihar consume tobacco in one form or the other.

In other words, every second person in Bihar uses tobacco in some form or the other, which leads to maximum cases of mouth and lung cancers among males in the state.

Smokeless tobacco, including guthka, khaini, jarda, is consumed by nearly 49 per cent adults in the state, the study said.

Various NGOs have been engaged to spread awareness about tobacco control initiatives in the state. Sinha urged them to tap the potential of health initiatives like short message services that Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is introducing in its reproductive health programmes.

“We are keenly noting the developments in Madhya Pradesh on the ban of guthka sale and are examining the ways to introduce such measures here. We are also thinking of introducing anti-tobacco usage messages on new generation health card scheme so that impressionable young minds don’t develop this habit,” said Sinha.