Mangalore, February 24: The Supreme Court's ban order on sale of tobacco products in plastic sachets March 1 onwards, has severely hit the areca growers in the region said Konkodi Padmanabha Bhat, President of the Central Arecanut and Cocoa Marketing and Processing Co-operative (CAMPCO)
He was addressing the media persons at Campco office here on Thursday.
The Supreme Court's decision came on December 7, 2010 after taking note of government's submission that 90 per cent of oral cancer cases in the country are due to chewing of tobacco.
Konkodi said the ban has adverse impact on lakhs of people, who are dependent on areca nut crops. It has completely affected the trade of arecanut in the regions like Davanagere and Shimoga. At the same time, the price of white and red arecanut has come down to Rs 20 per kg, he said.
He urged the central government to intervene and convince the Supreme Court regarding the problems faced by the areca growers.
He said the delegation led by the heads of cooperative societies including Campco and Mampco will meet Union Law Minister M Veerappa Moily in this regard at the earliest.
Bhat demanded support price of Rs 114 and Rs 148 for white and red arecanut based on the report prepared by Arecanut Research and Development Foundation (ARDF). Central government should sanction Rs 500 crores for each state to meet this demand, he said.
He also demanded one year injunction on the ban, so that the gutka industries can look for an alternate system.
Bhat also urged the central government to appoint an expert lawyer on behalf of areca growers to convince the court about adverse impact caused due to ban.
AS Bhat, Executive Director of Campco, Narasimha Nayak, Vice President of All India Arecanut Growers Association, Srinivas Nayak and others were present.
Comments
Add new comment