To discourage minors from having access to tobacco, the Himachal Pradesh government mulling to put ban the sale of loose cigarettes.
The Health Minister Kaul Singh Thakur believes that this would help to check its misuse by minors and violators would be dealt strictly with hefty fines.
To further discourage the people for smoking, the Health minister also hinted to increase value added tax (VAT) on cigarettes from 36 percent to 50 percent.
