Ever since Health Ministry officials began examining the possibilities of banning the production and sale of chewing tobacco and pan masala with tobacco or gutka, delegations representing the gutka manufacturers have besieged the Prime Minister onwards to hold off such a step.

At an intense brainstorming session yesterday that Health Ministry officials had with their counterparts from other affected ministries, namely those of Agriculture, Finance, Commerce, Food Processing, Labour, Consumer Affairs and Information and Broadcasting respectively, the pros and cons of effecting a ban were reviewed. But with dissonant arguments forthcoming, the Health Ministry has chosen to seek views from different ministries and the state governments on theconsequences, both financial and socio-economic of introducing a ban on gutka and chewing tobacco. Delegations of areca nut producers from different states have had meetings with Health Minister Dalit Ezhilmalai to put forward their point of view. In some states like Karnataka, especially the Shimoga area, farmers have in recent years turned to areca nut farming ever since the popularity of pan masala and gutka, caught on. Selling directly to gutka manufacturers, these farmers have prospered as the demand for supari and areca nut climbed.

The move to impose a ban, gutka manufacturers claim, is totally unjustified since there is no concrete evidence that gutka directly causes oral cancer.

Groups like the All India Pan Masala and Tobacco Manufacturers Association feel that the government should not impose a ban on gutka till it finds conclusive evidence about the carcinogenic nature of pan masala containing tobacco. The Association members recently met Prime Minister A B Vajpayee to plead their case and topress for an in-depth study before any decisions are taken. The argument is that the least the government should do before a ban or even taking measures to curb sales of pan masala, is conduct a comprehensive study to prove the causal link between gutka and oral cancers, and other aspects of the problem, including the financial consequences of a ban.