Bhubaneswar, Oct. 24: The Capital Hospital administration has finally woken up to implement the Union government's rules banning smoking on the medical facility's premises and decided to declare the area a "tobacco-free zone" from November.
Asked why the hospital decided to enforce the rule 13 years after the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, 2003, came into force, Capital Hospital director Biswa Bhusan Pattnaik said: "I joined the institution last year, and since then, I have tried to enforce the rules in the hospital." He refused to comment on what previous directors of the hospital had done to implement the act.
The act prohibits smoking in public places, including hospitals, and according to the rules, the violators could be penalised with a fine of up to Rs 200.
The hospital administration has put up signage on the premises that read: "A fine of Rs 50 will be collected from individuals chewing or spitting tobacco, pan and smoking inside hospital premises".
The hospital director said they had put up signage all over the hospital to let the people know about the upcoming move.
"The signage has been put up as a warning to the offenders. We have already printed the receipt books and our security staff members will be put in place to penalise the violators," Pattnaik said.
A hospital employee said that although it was uncommon to find people smoking on the hospital premises in the daytime, it was a common sight even inside wards and corridors of the state-run premier health care institution after nightfall.
On the other hand, patients and their attendants said spitting after chewing tobacco was rampant inside the hospital wards and corridors. The Telegraph had, on July 24, reported about the sad state of the hospital corridors, the walls of which are stained red with tobacco and pan chewers' spit.
With the new move coming into force from November 1, smoking or chewing tobacco on the hospital premises will invite a fine of Rs 50.
The Capital Hospital is the second public health care institution in the city after the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) to declare its premises tobacco-free. AIIMS had declared its premises tobacco free in 2014 and collects Rs 100 as fine from the violators. AIIMS Bhubaneswar had started operating in the city from 2012.
A senior AIIMS administrator said they had declared the premises free from tobacco use in July 2014 and were collecting fines from the violators.
"We have sensitised people, and it is now very rare to spot one violating the norms on the hospital premises," said the administrator.
The Municipal Hospital at Old Town, the other public health care institution in the city, is yet to implement no-tobacco rules.
Asked whether the hospital has any such plans, a senior hospital official said it was in the hands of the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation to make the move. "We will put the proposal before the civic body in the forthcoming council meeting," the official said.
Siripur resident Kamalakanta Mohanty, attendant of a patient at Capital Hospital, said: "This is a good move. It will not only ensure cleanliness on the hospital premises, but also deter people from using tobacco."
