BENGALURU: Objecting to the placement of ‘Vimal elaichi’ advertisements on BMTC and KSRTC buses, the Consortium for Tobacco Free Karnataka (CFTFK), a coalition of public health advocates and health care associations, has sent letters to the managing directors of the bus corporations, saying it is a surrogate ad for tobacco and demanding that it be pulled down.
“As advertisements of tobacco and alcohol products are banned in India, manufacturers are resorting to creative modes of advertising like surrogate products. The Central Consumer Protection Authority has issued notices for surrogate advertising to companies selling tobacco products -- like Kamla Pasand, Vimal Pan Masala, Rajnigandha -- and alcoholic beverages -- Imperial Blue and Sterling Reserve. The advertisements on BMTC and KSRTC buses falls in that category," said S J Chander, convenor of CFTFK.
"The advertisements in the guise of selling ‘elaichi’ are aimed at marketing Vimal’s chewing tobacco products. Direct and indirect advertisements of cigarette and tobacco products are prohibited under Section 5 of the Cigarette and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA)," he explained.
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“Tobacco usage is taking away the lives of more than 13 lakh Indians every year. BMTC and KSRTC buses are used by lakhs of people and there are lakhs of people on the road, especially children and youths who are 24x7 getting exposed to these surrogate advertisements," Chander said, adding that it is our responsibility to save them from tobacco initiation as once addicted it is difficult to bring them out of the vicious cycle.
Keeping in mind the grievous public health effect of these products, the bus corporations should be restrained from providing their platform to advertise, said Chander. He demanded that the contract with pan masala companies be immediately cancelled and no new ones be entertained in future.
BMTC MD Satyavathi and KSRTC MD Anbu Kumar did not reply to TNIE's queries.
When TNIE took up the matter with state health commissioner Randeep, he said that the department will write to the bus corporations to pull down the advertisements. “The health department is doing many things to curb tobacco use and motivate people to quit. We recently launched the Stop Tobacco app where people are complaining about smoking in public places and we have made many villages tobacco-free. We will request both BMTC and KSRTC to pull down the surrogate advertisement.”