Social Welfare, and Women and Child Affairs Minister Dr. AZM Zahid Hossain said on Sunday that although Bangladesh had a law to control smoking, it was not being properly enforced.
“It is not enough to make a law to control smoking; effective implementation of the law at the field level must be ensured,” he said.
The minister made the remarks at the monthly meeting of the District Law and Order Committee at the Dinajpur deputy commissioner’s office.
As chief guest, Zahid Hossain said smoking often led people towards drug use, making effective measures to control smoking important alongside drug prevention.
He said social awareness needed to be strengthened along with enforcement of the law. Although the law provided for fines for smoking in public places, people were still often seen smoking while riding motorcycles or standing in front of roadside shops.
He said fines of 50, 100 or 200 taka for smoking in public could also have a social impact by raising awareness and discouraging people from viewing smoking in public as acceptable.
On drug prevention, the minister called for forming anti-drug committees at ward and union levels involving local representatives, teachers, guardians and people from different professions.
He said coordinated efforts by such committees could help build social resistance against drugs.
On child marriage, Zahid Hossain said the country still had a 51 percent rate of child marriage and called for stronger roles from families, communities and the administration to prevent it.
He urged greater awareness among young people about the harmful effects of child marriage.
The minister also said young people should be encouraged not to have children before the age of 20, saying this would help protect mothers’ health and create better opportunities for children to grow up healthy.
The meeting was chaired by Deputy Commissioner Rafiqul Islam.
Dinajpur-4 MP and government whip Md. Akhtaruzzaman Mia, Dinajpur-2 MP Md. Sadiq Riaz, Dinajpur-3 MP Syed Jahangir Alam and Dinajpur-5 MP AZM Rezwanul Haque attended the meeting, along with senior district administration officials, law enforcement officials and committee members.
FP/R
