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Activists in Karnataka fight for regulation of tobacco in the state
Tobacco Products
In 2015, amidst applause, Karnataka became the first state to have launched the website of Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA) in 2015 to monitor its implementation.
However, five years later the state of the art website is now defunct without any nodal authority. Other than the police and health departments the government bodies such as Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC), urban local bodies, education and district collectorate have not uploaded the statistics on the website that was meant to track COPTA violations.
With the backdrop of containing the spreading of Covid the state government in May had banned the use, and spitting of smokeless tobacco and paan masala in public places.
"The Order does show that the Government is passing such orders more as a pretense and has no public interest in its approach," said K V Dhananjay, advocate, Supreme Court, and an activist fighting for the regulation of tobacco.
