PANJIM: Following O Heraldo reportage, the Goa State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (GSCPCR) has written to Chief Minister Pramod Sawant recommending a complete ban on surrogate advertising of gutkha on the state-run Kadamba transport Corporation Limited (KTCL) buses.
It may be recalled that O Heraldo in its July 3 edition had reported that around 350 teachers at a workshop against substance abuse had objected to the surrogate advertising of gutkha on KTCL buses.
They claimed that these adverts were influencing the students.
They demanded that the agreement inked between the advertising agency and KTCL be cancelled and said that the money for the advertisement was not bigger than the well-being of the children.
GSCPCR, the child rights body, took cognisance of the emerging substance abuse problem among children and brought together all stakeholders on a common platform through convergence meetings to address the same through a multilateral setting through effective and increased cooperation.
The move also aligns with the mandate of implementing the Joint Action Plan on Prevention of Drugs and Substance Abuse among Children and Illicit Trafficking, an initiative of National Commission for Protection of Child Rights and Narcotic Control Bureau.
In the last two convergence meetings, all stakeholders expressed and recommended a complete ban on surrogate advertising of gutkha on KTCL buses. Accordingly, the Commission made a recommendation to the Kadamba Transport Corporation Limited and subsequently had an interface with the officials.
The Commission has reiterated its recommendation for complete ban on surrogate advertising of gutkha on KTCL buses, as consumption of the same is being noticed among children in several schools, luring them into tobacco.
GSCPCR chairman Peter Borges said, “Banning the display of such products will reduce the disproportionate health and economic burden among the poor, its use is increasingly concentrated among the poor and vulnerable groups.”
