Agencies
New Delhi, Jun 1: All movies and TV programmes will be screened to ensure that they don’t contain smoking scenes, said Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss on World No-Tobacco Day, Wednesday.
The Health Ministry and the Information and Broadcasting Ministry have agreed to ban smoking scenes in movies, said Ramadoss after addressing a round table meet.
The ministries will notify the Supreme Court, where the matter is pending, that they have reached a consensus on banning smoking and use of other tobacco products in movies and TV.
A ban will reduce the use of tobacco products, which kills about one million people annually in the country.
A committee would screen every movie and TV programme to filter out smoking scenes. If the committee finds that a smoking scene is necessary from the ''artistic point of view,'' then the film would carry an advisory.
The actor shown smoking would need to state that smoking its injurious for health. Old movies containing smoking too would have to carry the advisory.
The Government would in August make it mandatory that 50 per cent of the space on cigarette packs and tobacco products has pictorial warning depicting how smoking causes cancers and is harmful for pregnant women.
An authority would be set up for implementing anti-tobacco legislation and reduce subsidy on tobacco products. A National Tobacco Control Programme will be developed to ensure effective implementation of tobacco control initiatives.
The Indian Council of Medical Research’s data for 1999 shows that there were 1.63 lakh tobacco-related cancer patients in the country, coronary artery diseases due to tobacco use was 44.5 lakh and obstructive lung disease cases due to tobacco use were 39.2 lakhs.
Tobacco costs unnecessary expenditure of Rs 30,833 crore per annum on diagnosis, treatment and loss of wages due to diseases.
Consensus on banning smoking scenes
PTI
New Delhi: After differing viewpoints, a consensus has been reached between Ministries of Information and Broadcasting and Health on the issue of banning smoking scenes in films and on television.
This was stated by Health Minister, Anbumani Ramadoss, at a function to mark the 'World No Tobacco Day' here on Wednesday.
"In one or two months, we will be informing the court what are the arrangements we have made", he said hoping that in the next few months there would be restrictions on movies and television on the depiction of smoking scenes.
Information and Broadcasting Minister, Priyaranjan Dasmunsi, had earlier questioned the ban saying how could a film show a character like former British Premier Winston Churchil without a cigar.
On the depiction of smoking scenes in old movies, he said they would have a warning and an advisory on the screen.
A staunch opponent of smoking, Ramadoss said the Government would make mandatory in six months that all tobacco products should carry pictoral warning.
All tobacco products packages would have to devote 50 per cent space for carrying the pictoral warning such as cancer patients and pregnant women, he said.
Observing that tobacco was the only industry that killed its consumers, Ramadoss said his Ministry has also moved a Cabinet note on the trade and taxation policy of tobacco in order to have wider deliberation on the issue.
One of the suggestions in the Cabinet note was gradual withdrawal of subsidy on tobacco products, he said adding efforts were also on to propagate medicine plants.
Ramadoss said a National Authority would come into force that would monitor and implement the law. It would have its own laboratory for testing, he said.
Bollywood just can't kick the butt
Sunayana Nadkarni / CNN-IBN
Mumbai: The first person from Bollywood to wake up early in the morning to continue his yearly anti-tobacco campaign was actor Sunil Shetty.
This year on World No Tobacco Day, the actor got onboard to educate Mumbai's police force about the hazards of tobacco consumption.
What is his opinion of smoking on-screen? “I have never done it personally, and I never endorse it either,” he said.
"There are two sides to a coin I know people from my own industry have different opinions. Yes, we go through stressful lives but I feel instead of falling back on such things one should fall back on family and friends for emotional support," Shetty said.
Last year the government decided to impose an anti-smoking ban on Indian films, and the old movies that did have actors smoking had to carry a "Smoking is injurious to health" warning.
While to ban or not to ban is now being decided by the courts, Bollywood is divided on the issue.
For some, the ban is intrusive.
“As far as the film industry is concerned, as far as law is concerned, I think the law and health ministers are completely right in saying smoking is not good for health. And if it’s not got for health, stop making cigarettes in India,” said Shah Rukh Khan.
“It’s going to be very difficult for us, because the kind of movie I’m making, it’s very realistic, and a lot of characters are smoking and drinking,” said director Madhur Bhandarkar.
Others have gone ahead and pledged not to smoke on screen.
“I can assure you that from today onwards, I will never smoke on screen,” vowed actor Ritesh Deshmukh.
With divided opinions within the Bollywood fraternity, the whole effort to deglamourise the use of tobacco on-screen to reduce its consumption off-screen seems futile.
Read Daijiworld exclusive for May 31 - 'International No Tobacco Day' by Anisa Fathima: