Drying tobacco on school premises: HC asks govt to act following Daily Star report
Following a report published in The Daily Star, the High Court has directed the government to take necessary steps to stop drying and processing tobacco leaves on the premises of academic institutions across the country.
The court also ordered the local administration to immediately move tobacco leaves from the premises of Durgapur Government Primary School and Durgapur High School, Deputy Attorney General Protikar Chakma told The Daily Star today.
The HC bench of Justice Farah Mahbub and Justice SM Maniruzzaman passed the order yesterday, on a suo muto (voluntary) rule, after a report was published in The Daily Star with the title "School ground turns tobacco drying field" on March 14, 2022.
The bench also issued a rule to this effect.
Supreme Court lawyers Nahid Mahtab and Ishrat Jahan Santona placed the newspaper report before the HC bench for necessary directives.
The Daily Star report said more than 500 students and teachers of two government schools have been suffering immensely as local farmers dry and process tobacco leaves on their campus in Lalmonirhat's Aditmari upazila.
The educational institutions are Durgapur Government Primary School and Durgapur High School -- sharing the same premises.
According to the schools' authorities, farmers continue to dry and process tobacco leaves on the playground even after repeated protests.
The farmers keep the playgrounds occupied from morning to afternoon every day during this season, depriving students of routine sports, they said.
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