Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmed has said that all the polling centers of the country are free from smoking according to the rule of the Election Commission (EC). Smoking is completely prohibited in the areas of polling centers, he added.
He told this to a delegation of Bangladesh Anti-Tobacco Alliance (BATA) when it met him at his office in the city on Monday. On behalf of BATA, secretary general of Pratyasha Madok Birodhi Songothon Helal Ahmed, Sagufta Sulatana of NATAB, Syeda Ananya Rahman and Syed Mahbubul Alam Tahin of WBB Trust were in the delegation.
Vice chancellor of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) Dr Pran Gopal Datta, EC secretary Dr Md Sadik and joint secretary Jesmin Tuli were also present at the meeting.
The representatives of the delegation requested CEC to take initiative to prohibit smoking and the use of tobacco-produced goods during the election campaign. Mentioning the negative impacts of tobacco, they also requested to declare all the offices under the EC as 'smoking free'.
The CEC assured them to consider the recommendations. He emphasised the need for creating awareness through media campaign about the negative impacts of tobacco.
Dr Pran Gopal Datta said the tobacco-produced goods are used during the election campaign, which encourage the people to use it. Mentioning that chewing tobacco is one of the reasons behind the deadly disease 'cancer', he said that the use of tobacco during election campaign hampers the anti-tobacco activities.
