School students and members of Mahavir Cancer Sansthan take part in a programme to spread awareness about the ill effects of consuming tobacco products, in Patna on the eve of World No Tobacco Day. Picture by Ranjeet Kumar Dey

Tobacco sellers continue to make brisk business near the city hospitals while the authorities seem busy passing the buck on to the district administration.

The state food authority wing of the health department had last year banned the sale of tobacco and nicotine-mixed gutkha, paan masala and variants for a year in the state till May 30 this year.

The wing is among the authorities responsible to implement the ban on sale and use of tobacco products in the state. The state food authority’s ban was extended for another year on Monday.

But ahead of the World No Tobacco Day, the products are openly sold on and outside the premises of the different hospitals in Patna.

According to Section 6 of the Control of Tobacco Products Act (COTPA), tobacco products cannot be sold within 100 yards of hospitals among other public places. However, people are selling tobacco under the nose of the authorities. They claim inspections are far and few, allowing them to have a free run.

Against this backdrop, World Health Organisation (WHO) has even selected Bihar food safety commissioner and health secretary Sanjay Kumar for the Regional Director’s Appreciation Award for World No Tobacco Day 2013 for his contribution in sensitising district tobacco control cells and local administration in controlling use and sale of tobacco.

At the Indira Gandhi Institute of Cardiology, The Telegraph found a vendor selling tobacco products at a makeshift stall in front of the hospital. He said an inspection team had visited the heart institute on World No Tobacco Day last year. “I came to know about the inspection and removed my stall just before the team arrived. It’s been an year now, but no such inspection has been conducted again,” he said. The vendor knows about COTPA but said he was forced to take up the business to provide for his family.

Another shop-owner outside Patna Dental College and Hospital said: “The last time an inspection team visited my shop was around five months ago. Regular inspections are not conducted so we can do our business without any tension.”

A senior administrative officer at the Indira Gandhi Institute of Cardiology passed the buck of removing tobacco sellers from the premises on the district administration. “The deputy superintendent of police and police personnel have to take the initiative. How can we remove the tobacco sellers from the campus? We warn them to leave the campus but they don’t pay any heed to what we say,” he said.

Tobacco sellers were found functioning within 100 yards of Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (IGIMS) and Nalanda Medical College and Hospital with similar daring.

The in-charge principal of Patna Dental College and Hospital, N.P. Yadav, said last year he even wrote to the district magistrate demanding action at the dental hub. Yadav, also the Patna Medical College principal, alleged that nothing has been done. But district magistrate N. Saravana Kumar said: “It is not a big encroachment. The hospital administration should be in a position to shut down the tobacco shops. The health department officials could have also done something in this matter. For now, I can tell you, I have formed a committee headed by additional district magistrate (law and order) to carry out inspections and penalise violators. These will start from tomorrow (Friday).”

Maqsood Alam, chief tobacco consultant, tobacco control cell, State Health Society, Bihar, admitted the poor implementation of COTPA in Patna but added that time-to-time inspections are carried out. The cell is also authorised to penalise violators. “Around 200 people have been penalised in Patna in the past five months and the anti-tobacco squad carries out inspections from time to time in public places. We conducted a centralised inspection in the hospitals last year too. In Patna, the COTPA implementation is not so good but we are trying to make it better.”

Of the public places raided, Alam, however, could recall the names of only four areas, including Gardanibagh and Chitkohra, where inspections were carried out at wholesellers’ shops.

Ashish Kumar, designated officer (headquarters), state food authority wing of the health department, was also at a loss when asked about the number of people penalised by the authority since last year.

“Challans have not been provided to the state food safety authority yet. We are waiting for the challan only then can we penalise the violators,” he said.