UPA hopes public will help in kicking the butt

going SMOKE-FREE: The ban may get off to a shaky start but the Govt is determined to implement it.

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New Delhi: It's been a long and smoky debate but the Union Health Minister has managed to emerge victorious.

After getting a go ahead from the Supreme Court for a nationwide ban on public smoking staring from October 2, Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss is now gearing up to implement it.

Ramadoss lists out the places where people won't be allowed to smoke in which include auditoriums, hospitals, health institutions, amusement centres, restaurants, hotels public offices, courts, educational institutions, libraries, stadiums, railway stations, bus stops, workplaces, shopping malls, cinema halls, refreshment rooms, discotheques, coffee houses, pubs and bars.

If caught smoking in any of the above places, people will have to pay a fine of Rs 200. The Health Department of all the states will be required to print challan books which will be distributed to authorised officers.

People who can challan you are:

• Gazetted officers
• HR managers
• Post Masters
• Principals, Headmasters and Teachers in Educational Institutions
• Airport and Railway Station heads
• Bus Conductors on buses and bus stops
• Tax inspectors and anti tobacco nodal officers in public places

While some authorised officers will able to recover the fine on the spot, others will issue challans and the offender will have to pay the fine at a designated court.

The smoking ban is likely to get off to a shaky start but the Government hopes that the public will help in its implementation. As the Health Minister says that the law is less about enforcement and more about compliance.