Government is contemplating a ban on smoking scenes in movies and teleserials and a high-level screening committee has been set up to look into the issue of surrogate advertising, Union health minister Anbumani Ramadoss said in New Delhi on Tuesday.
"More and more youngsters and women are taking up to smoking. We are planning to broaden the rules to ban smoking scenes in movies and teleserials," he told reporters on World No Tobacco Day.
A report on use of gutka is also being prepared following which a policy decision vis-a-vis banning its sale would be taken, he said.
While there is a ban on promotion of tobacco products through direct or indirect advertising, surrogate advertisement exists, he pointed out.
"We will define what surrogate advertisement is and rules will be changed accordingly," Ramadoss said.
He said the government had set up a high-level screening committee to examine the issue on case-by-case basis.
The issue of awards being constituted in the name of some cigarette brands would also be examined, he said.
Ramadoss said while some states banned sale of gutka under the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, it had to be later revoked as such decisions needed the Centre's nod.
