Tobacco-free Raksha Bandhan: Bundi woman bags first prize

JAIPUR: An "unusual" draw of lots was held at Swasthya Bhawan on Sunday. Health minister had to pick one lucky winner among 56,640 sisters who had demanded pledges of not consuming tobacco from their brothers as a gift on Raksha Bandhan.
Kamlesh Meena, a resident of Bundi district, won the first prize of Rs 21,000. Her brother Sunil Kumar Meena, a tobacco consumer, took pledge to quit tobacco use on Raksha Bandhan.Now, the health department will honour the winners at a state-level function.
Not just Sunil Kumar, more than 56,600 people took pledge and gave in writing that they would not consume tobacco in any form. The draw of lots was a part of health department's initiative to discourage tobacco consumption in the state by motivating sisters to compel their brothers not to consume tobacco.
The health department had prepared a pledge certificate, which they had distributed to chief medical health officers (CMHO) of all the districts. The certificates were signed by brothers pledging that they would not consume tobacco products. September 15 was the last date to submit certificates. On Sunday, a lot was drawn from the collected certificates. The initiative evoked a good response, highest 9,057 pledges were sent to the health directorate from Sriganganagar. Bundi sent 6500 pledges and Dungarpur 6,197. These pledges were signed by brothers and given to their sisters on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan as a gift.
On the occasion, health minister Rajendra Rathore said that efforts are being made to discourage tobacco use in the state. The government had also taken the initiative of declaring last day of every month as a No-Tobacco Day.
Apart from taking pledges to quit tobacco on Raksha Bandhan, the health department had distributed rakhies to people with the message to quit tobacco free-of-cost.