Nawanshahr, - A meeting of the District Task Force under the National Tobacco Control Program was held on Tuesday at the District Administrative Complex under the chairmanship of Deputy Commissioner Navjot Pal Singh Randhawa. Civil surgeon Dr. Jaspreet Kaur along with all district program officers and representatives of various partner departments attended this meeting.

Deputy Commissioner Navjot Pal Singh Randhawa while issuing instructions to the members of the District Task Force said that active participation of all the partner departments is very important for the effective implementation of the Kotpa Act in the district under the National Tobacco Control Programme.

He instructed the various partner departments including the health department to form joint teams and check public places including educational institutions and if anyone is found violating the Kotpa Act, appropriate action should be taken against him. He said that we all should work together to make Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar a tobacco free district.

He instructed the health department to start an intensive awareness campaign in urban and rural areas to make people aware of the ill effects of tobacco use. More and more challans should be issued against the violators of Kotpa Act.

The Deputy Commissioner directed the Municipal Council Department to issue maximum challans to the violators of the Kotpa Act in urban areas and to ensure that the shops/vendors selling tobacco products in their areas. , it should be ensured that this board is installed in those shops that it is a legal offense to sell tobacco products to a person below the age of 18 years.

Civil Surgeon Dr. Jaspreet Kaur informed the Deputy Commissioner Navjot Pal Singh Randhawa that the Health Department is making all possible efforts to effectively implement the Kotpa Act in the district. He also appealed to all the partner departments to play their active participation in it.

On this occasion, besides others, Additional Deputy Commissioner (R) Rajeev Verma, SDM Nawanshahr Dr. Akshita Gupta, SDM Banga Bikramjit Singh Panthe, Assistant Commissioner General Dr. Gurleen Kaur and Good Governance Fellow Sanjana Sakshaina, Deputy Medical Commissioner Dr. Harpreet Singh, District Immunization Officer Dr. Mandeep Kamal, District Health Officer Dr Renu Aggarwal, Block Extension Educator Vikas Virdi, Health Inspector Rajeev Sharma and other officials and employees of the Health Department were present.