No smoking rule imposed at IFFI venues
Following a written complaint from the National Organisation for Tobacco Eradication (NOTE) to the organisers of the ongoing International Film Festival of India (IFFI), IFFI officials asked the stars not to smoke at the venues of the film festivals.
"Rajat Kapoor, Radhika Apte and other delegates were seen smoking within the INOX courtyard which was reported in local newspapers. This is a violation of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA) 2003 which is operative in Goa since 2008,” NOTE general secretary Shekhar Salkar said in the complaint addressed to Manoj Srivastava, CEO of the Entertainment Society of Goa (ESG), the co-host for IFFI.
NOTE has said that it was the organisers’ legal and moral responsibility to ensure that “Film stars and VIPs not be seen smoking as the younger generation would imitate the actions of these heroes and become addicted to smoking which will damage their health." It has further asked ESG to take punitive action against smoking at all IFFI venues and ensure that the public places remain smoke free.
