To discourage the use of tobacco, the parliament′s standing committee requested that the union government abolish all designated smoking areas in restaurants, airports, and hotels. The recommendation was based on evidence showing that the burden of cancer in India will grow to over 15 lakh cases by 2025.

Additionally, the committee provided several other recommendations based on their report titled "Cancer Care Plan and Management: Prevention, Diagnosis, Research, and Affordability of Cancer Treatment,” such as substantially raising tobacco taxes and enacting a national-level gutkha ban. According to the report, chewing tobacco with or without areca nut, which is aggressively marketed as a mouth freshener, accounted for 80% of tobacco consumption in the country.

The committee suggested that additional revenue acquired after raising the tax on tobacco products can be used for cancer prevention and awareness. The panel revealed that oral cancer was the highest contributor to total cancer cases in India. As a result, they suggested that the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act of 2003 must be enacted more strongly. They also suggested a ban on single-stick cigarette sales and stringent penalties for offenders.

(Source: https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/nation/cancer-burden-alarming-abolish-all-smoking-areas-at-eateries-parl-panel-460054 )