According to reliable sources, a significant section of the school going children aged between eight and fourteen are consuming gutkha and tobacco in different forms including pan masalas and even bidis and cigarettes.

Parashar Baishya, a practicing pediatrician at a local health clinic said, “This habit greatly enhances the risk of diseases like lung and oral cancer among children. Children are more susceptible to the ill effects of these addictive substances than matured people. Consequently, immediate steps have to be ensured to eliminate this future threat.”

The parents are also a worried lot subject to the fear of their own wards getting affected by this burgeoning menace. Anupjyoti Saikia, father of a ten year old son said, “There is always the possibility of young brains getting allured by momentary pleasures. So, I always fear that my son might be influenced by his friends in the school who already might be into this habit.”

According to health department sources, nearly 90 per cent of the oral cancers in Assam are caused due to consumption of tobacco and gutka. Out of those 50 per cent is caused due to consumption of different pan masalas. In addition, it has been evidenced that children of the city take these dreaded substances mostly in the form of pan masalas. Thus, the health department fears a major health catastrophe if the present condition continues unabated.

A number of schools in the city have taken a no-tolerance attitude towards tobacco and gutkha and consequently a number of steps have been envisaged. A teacher in South Point School, one of the premier seats of learning in the city said, “If gutkha or tobacco in any form is found with a pupil, he or she is immediately detained and the pupil’s parents are called so that the problem can be immediately solved.”

With the incidences of sustained coughs, oral decaying on the upswing among the children, a lot of health experts believe that this is happening because of the proliferation in tobacco and gutkha consumption and hence, the issue should be immediately addressed for the greater good of the future generation.