Kolkata:
For those who are used to spitting tobacco or paan masala in public places in West Bengal, the days are coming on the difficult days because the upcoming budget assembly session will introduce a bill for offenses like such paan masala or tobacco spitting in which provision of heavy fine will be introduced will be. A decision was taken in this regard at a meeting of the West Bengal Cabinet in State Secretariat Nabann on Tuesday.
A member of the State Cabinet said that “The Chief Minister himself expressed concern over the increasing trend of chewing tobacco, paan masala or paan in public places. A member of the state cabinet said that he was particularly stained. Was criticizing as such a spitting tendency is often on newly painted walls and pavements, which is an obstacle in the state government’s beautification efforts, after this, the provisions of heavy financial punishment for such crimes. It was decided to pursue the bill with. “
However, it has not been decided yet how much the fine will be imposed. Sources say that a fine of up to one thousand rupees can be imposed for any such crime. The prevention of spitting in West Bengal public place, 2003 is already in force, under which the maximum fine for spitting in public places has been fixed at Rs 200.
However, due to the practical purpose of this Act and the short amount of punishment, questions have often been raised on the aspect of fear among habitual criminals. Perhaps for this reason, it has been proposed to increase the penalty amount by five times in the new bill. However, the question is how effective the enforcement capacity of the concerned enforcement agencies will be in view of the lack of manpower in every department.
Let us know that this year the budget session of the state will start on February 10. In -charge of the Finance Department of West Bengal, Minister of State (Independent Charge) Chandima Bhattacharya will present the state budget proposal on 12 February.