RAMBAN, NOVEMBER 22: District Health Society, Ramban today organized a one-day capacity-building programme for the officers of key stockholder departments on the implementation of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA)-2003.
Deputy Commissioner, Mussarat Islam presided over the workshop and directed all the stockholder departments including Health, Education, Police, Food and Drug Administration, Transport, Information, Municipality, State Taxes, Agriculture, Rural Development, NGO, Members of District Ramban etc to adopt a proactive approach to eradicate the smoking culture from society besides discouraging the youth regarding Cigarette smoking habits.
Additional Deputy Commissioner, Harbans Lal Sharma, ACR, Giasul-Haq, Chief Planning Officer, Dr. Kasturi Lal, SDM Banihal, Zaheer Abbas, CMO Kamal Zadoo, CEO, Dev Anand, Dy. SP, Pardeep Kumar, DHO, BMOs, CEO MC Ramban and various concerned officers attended the meeting.
The DC also directed Education, Rural Development, Municipal Council, and Police Departments to disseminate the message of ill effects of tobacco consumption among school children during Yellow Line Campaign by holding awareness events, besides ensuring that no business establishment/unit sells tobacco and related products within 100 Meters of any educational and other identified institutions.
The Deputy Commissioner directed the Tehsildars, BDOs and all other authorized officers to impose the fine on violators under extant rules and submit an action report to the Committee.
During the training session, Divisional Coordinator NTCP, Shiveta Raina presented a PowerPoint presentation and threw light on the prevailing tobacco usage scenario in the UT of Jammu and Kashmir, besides giving details of the penal and enforcement provisions of COTPA-2003. She also gave an overview of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), Article 5.3, and strategies for effective implementation of COTPA-2003.
Earlier CMO and other officers also put forth their viewpoints on the implementation of COTPA-2003.
