Health Minister C. Vijaya Baskar on Thursday denied allegations that he took bribes for allowing the illegal sale of gutkha and pan masala in the State. After The Hindu published the report ‘I-T probe unearths payment of bribes to T.N. Minister, officials for gutkha sale’, Opposition parties have been clamouring for his removal from the cabinet.
On his name figuring in the diary of gutkha manufacturer Madhava Rao, the Health Minister said he had no clue as to who Madhava Rao (who was questioned by the Income Tax department) was. “I have never met or known him directly or indirectly,” he told reporters here. From the time the ban on gutkha and pan masala was introduced in May 2013, over 544 tonnes of the banned substance have been seized and there has been no let-down in the crackdown, he claimed.
In Chennai alone, over 80 tonnes of gutkha and pan masala were seized with help from the railway police. When there were reports that sweets laced with ganja were being sold in the city schools, he said the officials raided over 2,000 shops and seized about 4,700 kg of the substance.
State’s track record
In the State, 6.17 lakh shops have been raided and it was found that 81,796 shops were selling banned tobacco.
In all, ₹15.38 crore worth of gutkha and pan have been seized and destroyed, the Minister said.
Every year, the government extends the ban. In the four years, there was not a single day without the ban. In 2017, the government banned chewable tobacco also, he said.
The District Collectors, Superintendents of Police, health and municipal officials were empowered to crack down on the sale of the banned tobacco products, he said indicating that the menace could be controlled only through a coordinated and continuous effort.
Mr. Vijaya Baskar saw the controversy as politically motivated.
