Click to play videoNew Delhi: People of West Bengal love their puff and the list includes Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee who reportedly lights up in the privacy of his cabin in an otherwise non-smoking Secretariat.
Statistics released as part of a nationwide survey on tobacco consumption shows almost three-fourths of all Bengalis are hooked to the cancer stick.
Health Minister Ambumani Ramadoss made no bones about it. “Seventy per cent of men in West Bengal people take to tobacco, including the chief minister,” he said.
But thanks to the controversies he has created with his earlier attacks on smoking celebrities, this time the Health Minister is choosing his words carefully.
“He is a leader. Leaders should be command. I do not need to advise him, he should lead by example,” Ramadoss said.
While the Health Minister is going soft on Buddhadeb, commoners will have to be ready to shell out some heavy fine should they light up in public places.
“The fines are Rs 1000 per individual, Rs 5,000 for an institution. Rs 5,000 for the first instance at an institution, Rs 10,000 for the second time and Rs 15,000 for the third time,” he said.
While in his bid to make Indians live healthy, Ramadoss may have stepped on a number of toes, at the same time, he's certainly raised the bar on the ills of cigarette smoking.
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