Shimla: To make the state a smoke free one, HP Voluntary Health Association (HPVHA), a NGO has asked the government to stop a tobacco company from training women in cigarette making.
“While carrying out a survey about implementation tobacco free regulations,†said Narender Sharma, executive director HPVHA, “it emerged that Western Tobacco, a Kokatta based company was imparting training to women in Saproh Panchayat of Nadaun block in Hamirpur district in rolling cigarettes.â€
Queries revealed, said Sharma, the company was carrying out the activity without any authorization from any government agency and the women attending the camp were being paid Rs 100 per day.
Such 15 day training camps are reported to have been carried out in other rural areas also, he added.
HPVHA, which has been in the forefront of the anti-tobacco campaign in the state and has turned the capital into a smoke free city, demanded strict action against the company.
“Such trainings defeat the objective of turning the state into a tobacco free one and the government agencies need to step in and stop the tobacco company for undertaking such trainings in the state, said Sharma.
As Editor, Ravinder Makhaik leads a team of media professionals at Hill Post.
Spanning a career of over two decades in mass communication, as a Documentary Filmmaker, TV journalist, Print Media journalist and with Online & Social Media, he brings with him a vast experience. He lives in Shimla.
