The Asian Age

Livid at the sight of betel juice-stained walls of his office, Adityanath banned the use of paan and tobacco products in all govt offices, and schools, colleges & hospitals

UP CM bans betel, tobacco products in schools, hospitals and govt offices

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Lucknow, March 22: Livid at the sight of betel juice stained walls of the building that houses his office, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Adityanath Yogi on Wednesday banned the use of paan and tobacco products in schools, colleges, hospitals and other government buildings.

On his first visit to the secretaria­t annexe building here, the chief minister gave a piece of his mind to officials there asking them to stop chewing paan and paan masala when on duty.

He was visibly put off when he saw betel-juice stained walls of the building which is known as Lal Bahadur Shastri Bhavan and houses the chief minister’s office and his secretaria­t, offices of the state chief secretary, principal secretary (home) and other senior IAS officers.

A few hours later, the chief minister directed

officials to enforce a ban on the use of paan and tobacco in schools, colleges, government hospitals and hospitals. He also prohibited the use of plastic in government offices.

“The chief minister visited all the floors of the annexe building and met officials posted there. After detecting betel stains on walls, he asked employees not to consume paan or paan masala during duty hours and ensure cleanlines­s,” deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, who accompanie­d Yogi, said.

Mr Adityanath also asked the staff to make the atmosphere in the building healthy and clean by avoiding the use of plastic, Mr Maurya told reporters.

A stickler for cleanlines­s, the saffron-robed 44-yearold chief minister had administer­ed a sanitation pledge to officials a day after he took over as the UP CM and asked them to ensure that the pledge is effectivel­y implemente­d on the lines of Swachchh Bharat Mission of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The officers were made to repeat after him a “swachchhat­a” pledge

“I will not litter, nor allow anybody to do it. I will devote 100 hours every year, to make the pledge of cleanlines­s come true and I will propagate the message of Swachchh Bharat Mission in every nook and corner of the country.”

Mr Adityanath, who is the head priest of Gorakhnath Temple in Gorakhpur, is known to take a round of the Mutt and temple premises, inspecting the cleanlines­s of the place after practising Yoga between 4 to 5 Am every day.

 ?? — PTI ?? Policemen raid a slaughterh­ouse in Moradabad on Wednesday.
— PTI Policemen raid a slaughterh­ouse in Moradabad on Wednesday.

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