CM Yogi orders to lift ban on ‘Paan Masala’ & Stationery items ; Ban on tobacco & gutka continues

Uttar Pradesh: Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath on Thursday, issued an order to lift the ban on the manufacture and sale of ‘paan masala’ which was put due to the lockdown amid Coronavirus in the country. However, the state government, in its same order, highlighted that the ban on sale of ‘gutka’ and tobacco continues.

According to the officials the order is for plain paan masala only. The ban on the manufacture, storage and sale of tobacco and nicotine-free pan masala/ gutkha in the state will continue unchanged.

The state government has also allowed stationery and book shops to open in the green and orange zones, maintaining social distancing norms.

Though many government and private schools have started giving online classes amid the lockdown, students claimed the unavailability of books was affecting the studies.

The sale of books and stationery has been welcomed by parents and students who said that online classes, in the absence of books, were making studying difficult for them.

However,a partial lift of ban from paan masala, keeping the sale of tobacco banned in the state has become a source of laughter for the netizens.

Naming the paan masala & gutkha brands, people are sharing memes on twitter saying “Rajnigandha is allowed but Tulsi is not.”