Shimla dist edu institutions to be made tobacco-free, says DC

The Shimla district administration has decided to make all educational institutions tobacco-free, starting with colleges in the state capital.

The meeting of the District Coordination Committee regarding tobacco control in Shimla district was held here today under the chairmanship of Deputy Commissioner Anupam Kashyap. It was decided to make all schools, colleges and other educational institutions across the district tobacco-free. In the first phase, all colleges in Shimla city will be made tobacco-free, for which speech and debate competitions will be organised.

The DC said the panchayat of the district, which becomes tobacco-free, would be honoured. He appealed to the representatives of the district to work fully towards making their respective villages, panchayats and surrounding areas tobacco-free. Tobacco free villages will be made at the village level.

He also launched the signature campaign “Together India says no to tobacco and drugs”. This campaign will be launched across the district in which people will be motivated to stay away from drugs.

At the meeting, Programme Officer Dr Rakhi Sharma gave detailed information about the Tobacco Free Youth Campaign 2.0 being run by the Ministry of Health. “The objective of this campaign is to motivate youth to avoid tobacco consumption and quit it. The duration of this campaign is 60 days,” she said.

The campaign works on five major priority areas including raising public awareness about the dangers of tobacco, improving compliance with the revised guidelines for tobacco-free educational institutions to keep schools and colleges tobacco-free and strengthening enforcement of tobacco control laws, (Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act 2023 Electronic Cigarette Prohibition Act 2019 etc.) to limit youth’s access to tobacco. Also increasing the number of tobacco-free villages and promoting social media reach. Chief Medical Officer Dr Rakesh Pratap, Additional Superintendent of Police Ratna Negi and other officers were also present.