Chennai: Health Minister Tamil Nadu Ma Subramanian has provided two months for food security officials to fully enforce the ban on sales of Gutka and Pan Masala throughout the state.
Officials will be given the power to seal shops and they will dominate the police and local administrators to achieve their goals, the Minister said.
While food security officials can make their district gutka free will receive awards and those who perform poorly will be punished.
“We want the prohibition to be applied in total,” he said.
In May 2013, Tamil Nadu banned the manufacture, storage and sale of Gutka and PAN Masala.
“Some time ago, 21 DMK Mlaas took the Gutka package to the assembly floor to highlight how easy the substance was prohibited from being available at Chennai.
They are available even around the shops near the secretariat.
The situation is valid even today,” Subramanian said to the official Open meeting named to overcome the illegal sale of Gutka and Pan Masala in Tamil Nadu.
Consultation meetings have representatives from the health, home and local administration department, in addition to larger Chennai Corporation.
“We have grabbed products and collected fine to RS 30 Crore in the last eight years.
We might be able to do the same in just two months,” he said.
Most traders, he said, will stop selling goods if asked to pay a fine.
“If they continue illegal sales, officials can seal their store,” he said.
Meanwhile, to create a awareness program that will encourage people, especially high-risk groups such as students and migrant workers, from using hazardous substances, the state will hold a consciousness meeting and display legal warnings that display health effects from chewing tobacco.
The state will also work with the Ministry of Education to introduce the adverse effects of tobacco through images in school books and notebooks.
The state will also hold a meeting to inspire vendors to swear to sales.
The District Health Authority must work with the Ministry of Health and launch the action plan to enforce the ban.
“We heard these products smuggled into the country through Bangalore through a vegetable truck.
There may be many routes like that.
We have to develop the intelligence network to prevent their entries,” he told officials.
The minister said he received at least 10 messages about where Gutka was available, contacts wholesale dealers and codewords used in the industry a few minutes after he called for a meeting on Tuesday.
“I will continue to the police.
Meanwhile, public members can send the details to cell complaints at 944-402-322,” he said.