NEW DELHI, INDIA, October 3, 2008: India strengthened its laws against smoking in public places Thursday, but enforcement is not expected to be easy. For years, anti-smoking laws here have been widely ignored. India’s smokers are accustomed to lighting up anywhere they happen to be, even in hospitals and playgrounds. Tobacco companies have fought to keep warnings off boxes, and an estimated 120 million (one-tenth of the entire population) are smokers–a habit which is projected to kill a million of them every year by 2010.
The ban, an effort to reduce the tobacco-related death rate, includes offices, hotels, restaurants, hospitals, college campuses, bars and discos, although some institutions will be allowed to provide separate smoking areas. Violators will be fined $5 at first, and officials plan to raise the penalty to $25. Officials hope an extensive anti-smoking campaign and tighter enforcement will make the ban successful; but the country’s health minister, Anubamani Ramadoss, knows people will not quit overnight. “This is going to be a continuous process,” he said.
Most European countries and several American cities prohibit or severely limit smoking in a host of public places, including bars, restaurants and cafes. Bans are rarer in Asia, though China–home to nearly a third of the world’s smokers–has set some limits, and Hong Kong prohibits smoking in many public places–even outdoor sites such as beaches and large swaths of public parks. Singapore has also banned smoking in most public places.