4 CMs, 150 MPs back tobacco: Ramadoss

NEW DELHI: Union health minister A Ramadoss has generated yet another controversy by virtually charging four chief ministers and as many as 150 MPs of lobbying with him for the "powerful tobacco industry".

He said the ministry's decision to introduce grim pictorial warnings on cigarette packets and other tobacco packs has brought him under tremendous political pressure, including from four CMs.

Speaking in Chennai, he said: "Four CMs and 150 MPs have met me to tell me that they don't want anti-smoking advertisements and labelling of products. Seven CMs wrote to me pleading for the beedi workers and one CM met me three times regarding this."

When TOI contacted Ramadoss, he refused to identify the chief ministers. However, he said: "Where is this country heading towards? Are the lives of 1.1 billion people not more valuable than the livelihood of 30 lakh beedi workers from this kind of work? The powerful tobacco lobby is going all out to ensure the warnings don't appear."

Saying that it was unfortunate that his fight against the tobacco lobby had run into opposition from his own colleagues, Ramadoss added that gory images of cancerous tumours, rotting teeth and diseased throats on cigarette packets, have been made mandatory from December 1, to dissuade people from smoking.

Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com