Paan-Gutka Ban In UP Government Spaces Not Really A New Idea, But Implementation Is

While it may seem so, this is not the first time that a ban, or some form of it, was being imposed on gutka and other tobacco products in Uttar Pradesh. In 2012, the Allahabad High Court had directed the government headed by Akhilesh Yadav to impose a ban on gutka in the state “within 14 days”. The HC’s directive came on 17 September 2012 after the Uttar Pradesh Dental Association filed a public interest litigation arguing that the substances were causing deadly diseases.

The gutka manufactures’ lobby challenged the order in the Supreme Court but in April 2013 the apex court upheld the high court’s decision. The UP government issued a notification banning the manufacture, sale and consumption of the substance.

However, while the ban continues, its implementation remains tardy as consumers devised a way to bypass it— instead of gutka, the offenders buy Paan Parag etc, mix tobacco and lime to make a heady mixture and then leave behind evidence in the form of smeared walls.

The Yogi Adityanath government, however, seems serious about implementing the ban. Within four days of assuming power, one of the decisions taken by the young government included ban on chewing paan and gutka, a tobacco product, in offices, schools, colleges and hospitals across the state. The ban was ordered after the Chief Minister took a round of the Secretariat building and found the office walls betel-stained. For the 44-year-old monk-politician, who had administered ‘swachhata’ pledge to all the officers a day after taking over, the sight was repugnant.

That the government was serious about this menace was evident from the prompt action taken against at least two offenders. The first was the driver of the Chief Minister’s official vehicle who was caught eating gutka “while on duty”. He was fined Rs 500. Second, the inspector of Mandiaon police station in Lucknow was suspended for issuing instructions while chewing tobacco.

While these cases would send a strong message to all policemen and officials fond of the harmful substances, monitoring the offenders across the state would be a tough call, despite the proposed installation of CCTV cameras in government offices. Indeed, an officer involved with the ban’s implementation in the state Secretariat dismissed it as a non-serious issue arguing that monitoring was not easy. Probably that is why office walls, waste paper baskets and roads continued to be used as spittoons.

The image of a paan/khaini/gutka chewing man from the state was best depicted in the song “khayi ke paan banaras waalaa” sung by Amitabh Bachchan. While he may have made the image endearing, the sight of people speaking with their mouths full with tobacco and opening their car windows to throw the contents on roads is actually disgusting, although it is almost a cultural trait of a UP-wala. It gets more pronounced as one moves towards eastern parts of the state.

To keep things in perspective, there are other issues too towards which the Adityanath government is showing equal zeal. The gutka ban was preceded by an order to shut down all illegal slaughterhouses in the state. Formation of anti-Romeo squads to prevent harassment of women by eve-teasers, a poll promise of the Bharatiya Janata Party and ban on wearing of jeans and T-shirts by teachers in government and government-aided colleges, was also ordered.

The Chief Minister also asked his ministerial colleagues and bureaucrats to declare details of their assets. He took a strong view of officers and staff coming late for work and ordered punctuality to be maintained. To ensure that the order was not thrown out of the window in time to come, government offices in the state will soon have biometric attendance and CCTV cameras installed.

Of all the orders, the closure of illegal abattoirs and anti-Romeo squads generated controversy and hogged more headlines because of the hint of majoritarianism and high-handedness of some overzealous policemen.

Government officials are now also required to devote 100 hours every year to “make the pledge of cleanliness come true”.

Cleanliness pledge, coupled with a ban on paan and gutka, were important for the state capital which was part of the Smart City project of the Government of India. Paan-stained walls and garbage dumps dotting the city had prevented the inclusion of Lucknow in the first list of cities shortlisted for the Smart City project.

While the anti-Romeo squads and shutting down of illegal slaughterhouses hogged all the limelight, the ban on chewing paan, gutka and tobacco in government spaces invited lesser attention even though it sought to change a ‘culture’ typical of Uttar Pradesh.