Abhaychandra Jain, Minister for Fisheries and Youth Services and in charge of Chikkmagaluru, on Saturday declared Chikkamagaluru as the COTPA-compliant district and hailed the police personnel for the initiative they had taken to spread public awareness against tobacco consumption. The Minister presented mementos to the police officials, in appreciation of their efforts, at a function here.
The police had launched a campaign to implement the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, 2003 on October 16, 2014. The law prohibits advertising and trading of tobacco products. In the last three years, the police have booked 1,450 cases for alleged violation of law and collected a penalty of Rs. 2,12,750.
R. Chetan, Superintendent of Police, said that the department would continue to keep a tab on the implementation of the law and prevent its violations. “Along with the police, many other departments have contributed a lot for the effective implementation of the law. However, the job is not yet over,” he said.
Sanjvi M. Patil, Additional Superintendent of Police, who is the nodal officer for the implementation of law, said the police conducted public awareness programmes across the district. The police would continue to impose penalty on violations of the law, he said. B.S. Shekharappa, Deputy Commissioner, and Gayatri Shante Gowda, MLC, were present.
