Sikkim chief minister Prem Singh Tamang (Golay) has directed district collectors of the state to initiate stringent action against government employees found spitting in offices, including suspensions.

“District collectors can take punitive action against employees found spiting in offices. They can even issue suspension orders,” said Golay.

Golay said that he wasn’t banning government employees from chewing paan or tobacco, though he added that “it is not good to chew paan”. But he came down heavily on government offices being spattered with stains of paan, gutka and tobacco
juices spit out.

“How can thoughts be clean when the surroundings are dirty?” asked the Sikkim chief minister.

Public spitting is an issue that is far from unique to Sikkim.

“There are numerous laws that make public spitting a punishable act but the desired results are yet to be seen,” said a retired bureaucrat.

The official said that spitting in public places is an offence under the Disaster Management Act, 2005, in India.

Uttarakhand has the provision to fine offenders up to ₹1 lakh under its anti-littering and anti-spitting Act, 2016.

The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation has the provision to fine up to ₹500. Under The West Bengal Prevention of Spitting in Public Place Act, 2003, offenders can be fined up to Rs 200.

“Apart from fines, a sense of ownership for a place needs to develop among the people to bring an end to this spitting nuisance,” said the retired official.

Spitting in public spaces was taken seriously during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Reports also suggest that public spitting was a major health concern in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in several Western cities, mainly due to its link to the spread of tuberculosis.

London enacted anti-spitting laws in 1903, while New York introduced its first ordinance in 1896. Around the same time, other cities like Chicago and Manchester followed suit.