Lucknow: The Yogi Adityanath government is planning to ban the manufacture and sale of the paan masala and gutka in the state.
The government has already banned the use of pan masala and tobacco products in the state secretariat and all other buildings of the state government.
Uttar Pradesh health minister Siddhartha Nath Singh told reporters that the present government has already taken a very serious view of the consumption of the two products and its ill effects on the health of the common people.
He said very soon the state government would take the measures for closing the factories manufacturing gutka and paan masala in the state.
Yogi Adityanath had banned consumption of paan and gutka in all government offices in the state when he discovered paan stains on walls during an inspection in the secretariat.
Though the Allahabad High Court has already banned the sale and manufacturing of the paan masala and tobacco mixed gutka, the order has proved ineffective and both the products are being openly sold and consumed in the state.
Buddhism need of the hour: Yogi
UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said on Sunday that Buddhism was more relevant in present times than it was earlier and the religion was also closely linked to Hinduism.
Speaking at a function in Myanmar, the Chief Minister said that he was a monk belonging to the Nath sect which was an amalgamation of Hinduism and Buddhism.
The Chief Minister said that Guru Gorakhnath is revered as one of the 84 Maha Siddhas of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition.
