Smokers continue to violate the tobacco control law by smoking at public places in Rajshahi city as the government law enforcement agencies are inactive in this regard.
Following the demands of the anti-tobacco campaigners, the previous government enacted an anti-tobacco law in 2005 to bring smoking and drug hazards under control.
At first the ban on smoking at public places made people afraid of being fined and they started refraining from smoking.
But the present scenario has changed and the smokers are again seen smoking publicly violating the government law, the anti-tobacco campaigners have alleged.
The campaigners also alleged that the people were violating the law as the public places and public transports were not defined perfectly in the 2005 version and they demanded amendment to the law and finally the national parliament amended it perfectly defining the public places and public transports on April 29, 2013.
According to article 2 (f and g) of this laws, smoking has been banned insid educational institutions, government, autonomous, private offices, library, lift, indoor work place, hospitals, clinics, court buildings, air ports, sea ports, railway stations, bus terminals, cinema halls, theater halls, shopping molls, covered restaurants, public toilets, children park, fair or exhibition places, and on buses, trucks, trams, airplanes, launches and other public transports.
But even after the amendment, people are violating laws because of the absence of proper implication.
The Action for Community Development project coordinator, Ehsanul Amin Emon, also an anti-tobacco campaigner, suggested that production and manufacturing of tobacco goods and their import and export must be stopped by enacting laws.
He also suggested that increasing tax on tobacco products could have been helpful.
The Rajshahi deputy commissioner, Mesbah Uddin, said the district administration was conducting mobile drives to check the use of tobacco goods at public places.
-With New Age input
