A leading producer of tobacco in the country, Karnataka has topped the list of States with the highest number of persons booked for smoking in public and other offences under the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA), 2003 during 2016-17.
The State is closely followed by Kerala, which occupied the top slot in 2015-16. But Kerala, having a relatively higher fine than Karnataka, has collected a greater amount as penalty.
In the last financial year, Karnataka and Kerala clearly led the country in the effective implementation of COTPA, booking 1.46 lakh and 1.34 lakh persons, respectively. The enforcement in other States was relatively poor.
Vishal Rao, oncologist and member of the High Power Committee on Tobacco Control, Government of Karnataka, while sharing the reply given by the Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare to an unstarred question in the Lok Sabha earlier this month, said the enforcement drives would lead to decreased consumption of tobacco.
In her reply, Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Anupriya Patel said 12.74 lakh violations were booked and ₹16.99 crore penalty collected from April 2013 to March 2017. Karnataka and Kerala have shared the top two slots in enforcement of COTPA during the past four years, with Karnataka topping in 2014-15 and 2016-17, and Kerala in 2013-14 and 2015-16.
According to statistics, enforcement was virtually nil in several States, including Maharashtra, West Bengal, Tripura, Jharkhand and Manipur, from March 2013 to September 2015.
Dr. Rao said effective implementation of COTPA “denormalises” smoking in public places. “This was evident with behavioural trends observed among youngsters dissociating the coolness quotient from smoking,” he said. In Karnataka, he said, different departments implemented COTPA effectively as it was institutionalised within their departmental structure and functions.
