Sambalpur: Tobacco Business in hospital premises, Administration is Silent, Suspicious Role of authority
Sambalpur: Fines continue to be levied on shopkeepers who have violated rules under Kotpa for selling tobacco products within 100 yards of public spaces such as schools, hospitals, and public spaces. The district NTCP advisor, Food Safety Officer, and Drugs Inspectorate, together with the help of the police in various police station areas, are issuing fines to the shopkeepers.
Tobacco products are being sold inside Sambalpur District Head Hospital (DHH) which is now surprising everyone. The worst thing is that the officials are acting like they don’t know who says we refused to open shops and who says we don’t know. There is a restriction on the sale of tobacco products within 100 yards of public places like hospitals. The same rules are being followed elsewhere.
Fines have also been levied on some shopkeepers selling tobacco outside the hospital but no official action is being taken even though huge quantities of tobacco products are being sold within the premises of the DHH. The shop sells everything from gutkha to cigarettes.
On the other hand, the shop area has already become the bed of many officers and employees of the hospital, while the police personnel are also seen sitting in the shop and drinking tea. The most important thing is that the shop is only 50 meters away from the office of the CDMO. Questions have been raised about whether it was allowed to open. A few days ago, the sight of cleaning staff dressing in Sambalpur District Hospital shocked everyone. Now the sight of tobacco and other goods being sold on the hospital premises has once again raised the concern of the Hospital management.
