Students, activists seek anti-tobacco chapters in school curriculum

Sonu Solanki first consumed gutkha at age 12 because of peer pressure. Soon, he became an addict and started emptying 5-6 packets into his mouth daily. By 17, he was diagnosed with oral cancer and had to undergo surgery.

"Parents tried to stop me, but access to gutkha and paan masala was too easy with shops close to my school selling tobacco products," Solanki said.

"Had I known the consequences of my habit, I would have saved my family and myself pain."

Like Sonu, many youngsters have become gutkha and paan masala addicts. The number of young addicts is so high that anti-tobacco activists are now pushing for a separate chapter in school curriculum to spread awareness .

"A few months ago, the deputy CM said he will work on creating awareness among children about the ill-effects of tobacco. While the step is appreciated, we need to start in primary school itself," said Vincent Nazareth of NGO Crusade against Tobacco. Nazareth said they had collected around 1 lakh signatures from BMC schoolchildren that would be submitted to the HRD ministry.

A recent study by Tata Memorial Hospital had revealed that among students of the 100 BMC schools surveyed in the city, 30 per cent were gutkha addicts.

"Often you will find shops selling tobacco will give a gutkha or paan masala packet instead of change when a student buys something. While selling tobacco products within 100 metres of an educational institution is against the law, children also need to be made aware," said Dr Pankaj Chaturvedi, thoracic surgeon at Tata Memorial Hospital.

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