MUMBAI, SEPT 28: The Sena-BJP government today recommended to the Centre to immediately ban production, sale, distribution and consumption of tobacco-mixed gutkha in the state owing to its ill effects on the health, particularly of the younger generation.``We do not know whether the Centre will oblige us, but the Cabinet has requested the Centre to amend the Prevention of Food and Drug Adulteration Act 1954 for the purpose,'' a senior official said.Health Minister Daulatrao Aher, who was instrumental in moving the proposal, had done the groundwork with a series of meetings with the officials of the state as well as central government and also with leading cancer experts.Before the proposal was moved in the cabinet meeting, the department had drafted a status paper on the number of cases of cancer attributed to gutkha. During the survey conducted by the department, it was found that more than 70 per cent students of schools and colleges were addicted to gutkha and 10 per cent ofthe cancer cases were of oral cancer. Significantly, 70 per cent of those affected with oral cancer were found addicted to gutkha, the official said.Gutkha causes throat ulcers and submucus fibrosis which lead to cancer of the mouth and pre-malignant lesions which could develop into cancer. In initial stages, a person could suffer from stomatatis, in which there is a burning sensation, according to Dr Smita Nagle, lecturer, ENT, at the JJ Group of Hospitals, Byculla. The period within which a person can develop these diseases depends on his sensitivity- it could be anything from three months to three years, Dr Nagle added.Commenting on the move, industry sources said if the ban is effected, it would sound death knell for the operations of manufacturers of the branded as well as unbranded versions of the product.The state gets an annual revenue of Rs. 18.16 crore from the gutkha industry, while the Centre generates Rs. 49.91 crore by way of excise duty through it.Industryfears that the share price of Kothari Products, makers of Paan Parag brand, the major listed company in the business, will see a downward trend. Manikchand, yet another company, which built its brands by sponsoring film awards function, will be yet another company which will bite dust.The unorganised sector, which has a major share of the Rs 2,500 crore industry, will switch to tobbaco products instead of making gutkha, say industry experts. Given the blanket nature of the ban proposed, Kothari Products and Manikchand will find its present operations severely curtailed.
