KOCHI: Sellers continue to flout the ban on the sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products within 100 yards of schools and other educational institutions with a high number of such cases detected in the district year after year. The raids conducted by authorities have also failed to deter the traders from selling tobacco products to students.
As per the data with the police, 1,271 persons were apprehended and fined under Section 6(b) of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act, 2003 (COTPA) – which prohibits sale of tobacco products to minors and within 100 yards of educational institutions – in the district in 2019. This number was 1,562 in 2017 and 1,500 in 2018.
This apart, the Excise department had intercepted 677 persons for selling narcotic products, including ganja and drugs, across the district last year.
“Enforcement agencies swiftly act on any information about sale of tobacco products near schools or colleges. However, each offence under the COTPA section attracts a fine of mere `200. Stricter legal provisions are required to dissuade traders from selling tobacco products near educational institutions,” said an officer.
Across the state, 2,782 persons were caught selling tobacco products within 100 yards of educational institutions in 2019. The same was 3,586 in 2017 and 3,513 in 2018.
Though the sale of gutka and pan masala containing tobacco or nicotine was banned in the state since May 2012, the number of cases registered clearly indicate that the products are still being smuggled into the state for sale. The Excise department registered 10,907 cases related to the sale of gutka and pan masala across the state last year.
In Ernakulam district, 446 such cases were registered. The highest number of cases – 5,340 – was registered in Alappuzha.
“The sale of gutka and pan masala are yet to be banned in many states. Chewing gutka and pan masala is routine for people from West Bengal and Assam and the products are mostly smuggled here for sale among migrant workers,” said an Excise official.