Rather than catching terrorists, Mr. Health Minister now wants to catch smokers (who smoke in public places) and fine them Rs 200 ( $ 4 approx). There are around 100 million beedi smokers in India. Is the government now expecting that person to cough up $ 4 when his daily wage is not even $ 2?
He is not considering a ban on cigarette manufacturers, but is considering a ban on the consumers. Why not, because the party these politicians represent is funded by these organizations. Mr. Health Minister, would you dare imposing a ban on the organizations who manufacture cigarettes?
According to the new smoking law even if one cigarette stub is found in an office complex then the owner is supposed to pay a fine equivalent to the total number of people working in the office multiplied by Rs 200. So if a cigarette bud is found inside a company like Infosys, the company needs to pay Rs 200 * 50,000 = Rs 10,000,000. This is ridiculous
If the youngster?s minds are getting corrupted by watching their favorite actors smoking in public, then they are also getting corrupted by watching cash for vote scams and numerous other scams which involves the same politicians.
They are citing examples from other countries, but do they even know that other countries provide dedicated smoking area. Well other countries also provide free Medicare. Is our government doing that? No .
I smoked for 10 years and believe me, the hardest thing I ever did in my life was to leave smoking (and I did the right thing by quitting). This ban would do nothing but corrupt the system even further.
People don?t leave cigarette by force, they leave it by choice.
Original source: http://mt360.wordpress.com/?p=203
