Yogi govt mulls ban on paan masala, gutkha
Lucknow: The Yogi Adityanath government is mulling a ban on the manufacture and sale of paan masala and gutkha.
Additional Chief Secretary Home, Avanish Awasthi, said that since the coronavirus was found to be active in saliva, the government could ban the use of paan masala and gutkha since people tend to spit it out.
It may be recalled that when he took over as Chief Minister in March 2017, Yogi Adityanath had banned gutkha, paan masala from all state government offices. The Chief Minister had visited the government offices and was furious to see paan stains all over the walls and corners.
The Chief Minister ordered an immediate ban on use of gutkha, paan masala and chewing tobacco inside all the government buildings in the state.
However, after initial strictness, government employees were back to chewing tobacco and paan masala.
This time, however, the government is serious about the implementation in view of the COVID-19 outbreak.
No one – not even God – can effectively ban pan and Gutka in north India especially UP where they consider spitting in public is their cultural practice, a fundamental right and cannot be questioned by anyone. Yogi may risk his power even if he is able to ban pan just or records.