Chief Minister lauds health department for sustained efforts
Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said here today that Himachal Pradesh has been selected as the best performing state in the Tobacco Free Youth Campaign 3.0 (TFYC 3.0). He credited the persistent efforts of the Health and Family Welfare department for this achievement.
The Chief Minister lauded the efforts of the Health and Family Welfare department for its successful implementation of TFYC in the state. He said that as a result of the sustained efforts of the department, Himachal has been selected as one of the best in the larger state category and the award will be presented to Himachal on 28th October, 2026 at New Delhi.
The TFYC was launched in 2023 to mark World No Tobacco Day. The ongoing TFYC 3.0 is a 60-day drive to prevent youth tobacco use and support cessation through six key strategies.
Himachal Pradesh’s performance was marked exceptionally praiseworthy in various categories. These included escalating public awareness on harmful effects of tobacco, enhancing tobacco free educational institutions compliance strategy, enhancing enforcement of COTPA 2003 and PECA 2019 strategy, its endeavor for tobacco free villages strategy, amplifying social media engagement and capacity building. The final evaluation was carried out on the basis of the average percentage achieved under the above mentioned categories.
Himachal was selected as one of the best performing states by an expert committee. The committee in its meeting on 13th April, 2026 reviewed the performance of the states/UTs and decided to classify the states and UTs into three categories in accordance with the NITI Aayog classification, namely – Larger States, Smaller States and Union Territories.
