-The Telegraph
The Maharashtra government today cleared a proposal to ban the manufacture, storage, distribution and sale of gutkha and paan masala.
The state has become the fourth, after Kerala, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar, to impose such curbs.
The decision was taken at a cabinet meeting presided over by chief minister Prithviraj Chavan this evening, sources said. But there was no announcement as the Assembly’s monsoon session is on. It could be done in the House tomorrow.
The proposal was mooted by deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar. Officials of the Food and Drug Administration finalised the legal framework for the ban. Such curbs were clamped once earlier but was overturned after some manufacturers moved court.