Jaipur, July 24: After Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan today decided to ban `gutkha`.
An official spokesman said the state cabinet, at a meeting here presided by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, considered the ban on manufacture and sale of `gutkha` in the state on the pattern of up and Maharashtra and decided in principle to ban the chewing tobacco.
The cabinet has directed the officials to work out the modalities of implementation of the ban after consulting the reports of other states where it was prohibited.
The cabinet members felt that health hazards posed by `gutkha` far outweighed the loss of Rs 25 crore revenue annually to the exchequer by way of duties on its manufacture and sale.
It would be therefore the utmost need of the hour and in the interest of people to ban `gutkha`, according to the spokesman.
Bureau Report