Indian government solemnly celebrates ‘No Tobacco Day’ on May 31, as a ritual ignoring even the bitter fact that tobacco-companies are now targeting women to develop smoking-habits amongst them. Earlier also tobacco-lobby was successful to dilute area and design of pictorial-warnings on cigarette-packs against wishes of the then Union health Minister Dr A Ramadoss and other senior officials of his ministry.

Proportion of pictorial-warning area on cigarette packs in India is lowest in the world with Brazil even having 100-per cent area on both front and pack panels of cigarette-packs.

However, only remedy for effectively curbing smoking is to follow sensible countries like Bhutan and Ireland by imposing a complete ban on manufacture and sale of cigarettes in the country. Even family-members of smokers will support such a bold step, because it is the family which suffers from death of persons caused by smoking. Smoking is an addiction started out of fashion at the young age when initial puffs even cause discomfort. Revenue-loss from ban on cigarettes will be more than compensated by funds saved on tobacco-related diseases. If self-regulation is the policy to check human evils, then Union government should withdraw attempt-to-suicide from Indian Penal Code. Likewise, using helmets by scooterists should also be made self-regulatory rather than being forced as compulsory.