by Mayukh Goswami

Mangaldai  : Befitting the celebration of the 150^th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi , the District Tobacco Control Cell of Darrang under the District Health Society has launched the Tobacco Free Educational Institution (ToFEI)  programme as per the instruction of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare , Govt of India. In this connection an awareness discussion and community pledge administering ceremony was conducted in Mangaldai Maharshi Vidya Mandir, a degree level private educational institution located at Gerimari here. Delivering the key note address in the discussion Dr Nirmal Kumar Beriya ,Nodal Officer , District Tobacco Control Cell explaining about adverse effect of tobacco on the children and youths he said,“ Five thousand five hundred children initiate tobacco use every day in India  Out of the twenty six crore seventy lakh tobacco users in our country nearly twenty nine percent are adult just over fifteen years of age. More significantly ninety percent people initiate tobacco in their teens ,usually at the age of 15 to 20 years.” . Giving a alarming statistical data about tobacco causing cancer , Dr Beriya said, “ Thirteen lakh fifty thousand people die every year due to tobacco related diseases . Fifty percent of all Cancers and ninety percent of cases of  oral Cancer are caused by tobacco.”, “The country has to bear a cost of rupees one lakh four thousand five hundred crores in the health care due to tobacco use which is more than six times of the revenue earned from tobacco products amounting to rupees seventeen thousand crores.”, he shared while discussing  its negative impact on the overall economy of the country.

The speaker also threw light on tobaccos with smoke and smokeless tobacco the second hand smoking and the different penalty provisions under the tobacco control Act COTPA-2003 including the ban of its use within the one hundred yards radius of any educational institutions. The session moderated by the Principal of the institution Pradip Sarmah also witnessed administering of the community pledge on “No Tabacco” led by Hemanta Payeng , the Vice Principal of the institution . Prior to the seminar deep tribute was paid to Mahatma Gandhi by lighting lamp before his portrait .