A Member of the Parliament from the Trinamool Congress party Mohammad Nadeem ul Haq demanded a ban on spitting in public places in India at the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.
Haq asked union health minister JP Nadda if he is planning to include a no-spitting day in the calendar to raise awareness on the issue.
Haq was soon joined by other MPs who urged the health minister to introduce strict action against spitting in public places on the lines of open defecation.
"When we are bored we spit, similarly we spit when we are tired or angry. Diseases like tuberculosis are spread through spitting. India needs to get to rid of this habit. This should be included in the clean India Campaign," he was quoted by the India Today as saying.
The lawmakers, while moving away from the usual political discourse, engaged in a healthy debate on what leads to the public spitting practice in India and its possible consequences.
Anubhav Mohanty, a Bollywood actor and also a Rajya Sabha member, said that the unhealthy practice could be attributed to tobacco consumption in the country, News18.com reported.
"Spit-and-run should not be tolerated and offenders should be made to wield the broom and do a clean-up act," he added.
The lawmakers also said that an increased incidence of communicable diseases in India could eb due to such unhealthy trends.
The union health minister meanwhile assured the lawmakers that an awareness campaign on the same will be planned. Nadda said that although no law bans spitting in public yet, launching an awareness campaign could prove helpful.
