Sitting amid the blackened remains of his home, 32-year-old Nikesh Gawali carefully broke open a half-melted plastic box with a screwdriver. His hands shook slightly, not out of fear, but out of hope. “I’m trying to find my daughter Aarti’s gold earrings,” he said quietly, still focused on the box. “She’s just five. I got them made recently after months of labour work.” The plastic box, warped and blackened by heat, was one of the few things left from his two-room house on the outskirts of Dhamangaon village . All around him lay ash, broken tin sheets and charred wooden beams. The walls had cracked under the heat and the front room’s tin roof had caved in completely. What remained was a blackened debris all around - almost nothing to suggest a home once stood there. Nikesh earns his living as an agricultural labourer, like many in the village. Work is uncertain and depends on the season. Those earrings weren’t just jewellery - they were a small dream, a reward for his hard work,...
Aiming to curtail the sale-purchase of gutkha and flavoured tobbaco, the State police were directed to independently register criminal offences against those involved in sale and purchase of these banned items. Maharashtra Government had imposed ban on sale of tobacco flavoured items in year 2012 and till now Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) alone was empowered to act against the culprits.
But in view of rising use of these chewables among youth, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar directed Maharashtra police to independently register offences. Police are also directed to ensure implementation of ban on sale of flavoured supari, Kharra, Mawa and pan masala that are harmful for health.
Despite prohibition by State Government on manufacture, sale and purchase of gutkha and flavoured tobacco, the gutkha ‘lobby’ has managed to ‘push’ their products in the State without any break for last eight years. Now, State Government has come with new policy for stricter implementation of existing ban by directing police to register non-bailable offences.
Milind Bharambe, Special Inspector General of Police (Law & Order) Maharashtra Police, has issued a circular to all police units on July 16 informing them about the new directives. The circular stated that a special meeting was conducted under the Chairmanship Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on July 5, wherein police were directed to initiate action against gutkha sellers and smugglers under Sections 188, 272, 273 and 328 of Indian Penal Code.
A top rank police official informed ‘The Hitavada’ that the directives would enable free hand to the police to initiate action against sale and purchase of gutkha and flavoured tobacco in the State. Earlier, the police had to request officials of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to lodge a complaint for registering offence against the smugglers. As FDA is hampered by lack of adequate staff, they were unable to curb the menace on their own. The police has vast network of its own and informers in each locality. Once police start initiating action, the menace can be curbed to a large extent, feel the officers.
From year 2012 to year 2018, Maharashtra has seized gutkha worth Rs 171 crore and the State has filed 3,727 FIRs, More than 4500 such cases are still pending in the court.
Maharashtra’s tobacco ban is in place since 2012 but it's implementation was hampered due to pressure from powerful gutkha lobby and smuggling from neighbouring States was rampant. Maharashtra imposes a jail term of six months on sale of tobacco, while selling it is a bailable offence under the existing laws. The punishment was raised to three years in prison, and the offence made non-bailable from August 2018 onwards.
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