Implement smoking ban effectively

KOCHI: Leaders of various trade unions demanded effective implementation of the ban on smoking in public places. The leaders raised this demand at a workshop on tobacco control organised by the district administration and organisers of Tobacco-Free Ernakulam programme for labourers.Smoking in public places is rampant. Those who react against this illegal activity are being isolated, they alleged.District leprosy officer Dr V S Dalia inaugurated the workshop. Voluntary health services president O J Paul presided over the function. IHRA district president K M Abdulla, Ernakulam District Residents Associations Apex Council (EDRAAC) president Rangadasa Prabhu, Tobacco Control Programme  officers Rakesh Nair, Anoop Mukkadan and Sheeba Johnson, spoke.