Source: NDTV.com
HYDERABAD, INDIA, March 5, 2003: The number of cigarettes being smoked in India is going up, despite the ban on smoking in public places. The consumption has increased by seven billion cigarettes this year — from 87 billion sticks in 2001-2002. “People who have been smoking bidis may graduate from bidi smoking to cigarette smoking if their economic condition improves. My fear is that some college-going youth may also resort to smoking. That is another kind of new entry,” said P. Dayachari, Tobacco Board Chairman. The Supreme court’s directive banning smoking in public places had an immediate impact and the sale of cigarettes was reduced by 15 percent in 2001-2002. But the reversal of the trend this year has worried health activists. Today many people can be seen smoking in public places as there is little policing and no punitive measures — just a $2 fine. India’s tobacco industry is the second largest in the world and accounts for one-third of the total three million tobacco-related deaths in the world.