By IANS,
New Delhi : To make the national capital smoke-free before the 2010 Commonwealth Games, the Delhi cabinet Wednesday cleared a Rs.100 million project to be implemented by the government in collaboration with the Bloomberg Global Initiative (BGI).
“The cabinet has given its nod to the project… it would be implemented in two years with effect from October 2008 to September 2010,” Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dixit said.
The estimated cost for the project is Rs.100 million, of which Rs.40 million will be contributed by BGI while Delhi government would contribute Rs.60 million.
The Bloomberg Initiative was established in 2006 by several organisations working to reduce tobacco use globally.
Dikshit said the government would also sign a memorandum with Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, USA for exchange of technical know-how and capacity building to install Air Nicotine monitoring devices in several strategic locations of Delhi.
“The government is committed to making Delhi smoke-free before the Commonwealth Games and this project will protect the citizens from the ill effects of exposure to tobacco smoke,” she said.