Govt employee wins award for campaign against tobacco

Maachana Raghunandan, a Deputy Tahsildar with the Consumer Affairs, Food and Civil Supplies section of Telangana, has been honoured with the ‘National Tobacco Control Hero Award’ by the Strategic Institute of Public Health and Research (SIPHER) for his two-decade-long ngo to eradicate baccy addiction.

SIPHER, which invited applications from veterans with much than 15 years of baccy power work, announced his name, acknowledging his relentless grassroots campaign.

Mr. Raghunandan’s crusade began successful 2000, erstwhile helium mislaid his adjacent person Deekshitulu to smoking and gutkha addiction. Deeply disturbed, helium made a life-long pledge to prevention others from the aforesaid fate. He adjacent carried this condemnation into his marriage, declaring, “I don’t question smokers’ blessings astatine my wedding.” Over the years, Mr. Raghunandan launched his Quit Tobacco campaign, travelling connected his two-wheeler crossed 500 villages and covering much than 5,000 kilometres.