We want to make Goa smoke free: Anti-tobacco group

PANAJI - Despite its reputation as a leisurely, bohemian tourism destination, Goa has seen almost 70 percent implementation of the anti-smoking law and actions are being taken to make the state smoke free, an anti-tobacco lobbyist said Saturday.

“The state government and the anti-tobacco group are working in tandem to make Goa a smoke free state,” National Organisation for Tobacco Eradication (NOTE) general secretary Shekhar Salkar told reporters.

NOTE has in the past dragged Bollywood heavyweights like Shahrukh Khan and Amitabh Bachchan to court for allegedly promoting smoking through films and on television.

“The Voluntary Health Association of India (VHAI) in its survey has already endorsed that the anti-smoking laws have been implemented up to 70 percent,” Salkar said.

“To make Goa a smoke free state, we need to raise the bar to 90 percent implementation,” he added.

VHAI is a pan-India NGO and operates as a federation of 27 state health associations bringing together under its umbrella 4,500 health and development agencies throughout the country.

The VHAI survey was carried out in Goa some weeks ago and the findings, Salkar said, were a shot in the arm for anti-smoking efforts put in by the state government and NOTE.

“By smoke free, we do not mean that smoking will not be allowed throughout Goa. It only means that the process of implantation of the anti-smoking law will be made more stringent,” Salkar said.

Director of Health Services Rajnanda Desai, who heads the state level steering committee that monitors the implementation of anti-smoking regulations, said implementation was made easier by allotting the responsibility of enforcement to a cross section of society.

“It is not government officials alone. Private hoteliers too can take action against offenders of the law,” Desai said.

The state government has planned to strictly enforce the anti-smoking law in the popular beach shacks of Goa, which are thronged by tourists during the season.

“Tourists can smoke on the beach if they want to, but not in the shacks,” Salkar said.