DC Kathua chairs DLCC meeting on National Tobacco Control Prog

Kathua: A meeting of District Level Coordination Committee (DLCC) on National Tobacco Control Programme was held Friday under the Chairmanship of Deputy Commissioner, Kathua Rahul Yadav here at DC Office complex.
The Committee meeting was convened to build the capacity of the stakeholders and get a better understanding regarding the enforcement of the provisions of The Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, 2003 or COTPA, 2003 and to implement National Tobacco Control Programme(NTCP).
At the outset, CMO Dr RadhaKrishan informed the meeting about the agenda, roles and responsibilities of the members of DLCC under NTCP.
The Divisional Coordinator NTCP, Shiveta Raina threw light on the prevailing tobacco usage scenario of the Jammu and Kashmir besides gave details of the penal and enforcement provisions of COTPA-2003. She also gave an overview of WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), Article 5.3, MPOWER and strategies on effective implementation of COTPA-2003.
The Deputy Commissioner called upon all stakeholders to actively participate in enforcement of provisions of COTPA-2003 and to generate awareness among the public in general and youth in particular regarding hazardous effects of tobacco use.
Regarding the action plan for curtailment of tobacco usage, he said in Jammu Kashmir the tobacco usage is prevalent in smoking form rather than its consumption in non-smoking form so there is need to devise out strategy accordingly to reduce consumption of tobacco. He also called upon Chief Education Officer Kathua to disseminate the message of ill effects of tobacco consumption in morning assemblies besides ensuring that no business establishment/unit sale tobacco and related products within 100 yards of any educational institutions.