31 May,2009 01:25 PM IST | | PTI
All tobacco products will have to carry compulsory pictorial warnings on their packs from today highlighting the health hazards of its consumption, a long- awaited step aimed at cutting down on the killer habit.
The government order in this regard has come despite stiff resistance from tobacco manufacturers. The products will have to clearly display a "scorpion" and "lungs" as pictorial warnings.
The picture should cover at least 40 per cent of the principal display area of the pack. The products cannot carry any message that directly or indirectly promotes a specific tobacco brand or tobacco usage in general, the Health Ministry had said earlier this month.
The government had in August last year asked the manufacturers of cigarette, bidi and gutka products to display a skull-and-bone sign and a warning saying "tobacco smoking kills" on the packets so as to sensitise the public against smoking and consuming these items.
ALSO READ
Karnataka govt sets age limit for sale of cigarettes to 21
Woman hides 2.41 kg gold in undergarment, held at Mangaluru airport
Palghar: Banned tobacco products worth lakhs seized; one held
'New law puts paan, bidi sellers in same crime list category as acid throwers'
Shiv Sena says Modi should clean filth coming out of mouths of MPs
However, it could not be implemented at that time. Then the government fixed December one as the deadline. According to WHO estimates, 65 per cent of men in India consume tobacco, with 22 per cent chewing and eight per cent smoking as well as chewing.
There has been an increase in the consumption of tobacco among women, with about three per cent smoking 'bidis' or cigarettes and 22 per cent chewing tobacco.
