Minister for Health Dr D L Ravindra Reddy on Thursday commented that the rulers were not banning tobacco usage, which was harmful to the health, for the sake of votes.
Speaking at a program organized in Ravindra Bharati here to mark “No Tobacco Day”, D L Ravindra Reddy said that though the government was publicizing urging the people not to consume tobacco, there was political reasons behind not seriously working to control tobacco usage. Understanding the governments’ attitude, the people should voluntarily stop chewing and smoking of tobacco. He also underlined the need to educate the people about the ill-effects of tobacco usage on the health. The people should protect their health by shunning consumption of tobacco, he added.
Chief Secretary Pankaj Dwivedi said that he would ask the police department to ban tobacco usage within the radius of 100 meters from the Universities in Hyderabad. First, we should focus on Universities where the students were easily attracted to consumption of tobacco, he added.
The Minister released a wall poster and pamphlets which highlighted the ill-effects of tobacco consumption.
Principal Secretary of Health Ratnakishore and others also attended the program. (NSS)