MUMBAI: If a person is caught not just spitting tobacco but even chewing it in a public place, he may have to work as a government “sweeper” for a day. The state health department is considering this stringent punishment against tobacco users.This proposal has been forwarded to the state law and judiciary department for legal opinion. It states that any person who chews tobacco or spits in a public space must clean a government office or hospital for a day, for eight “working” hours.Health minister Dr Deepak Sawant said the existing civic bye-law on spitting or chewing and sale of tobacco products should be amended or reframed.“I have proposed a more stringent law. People caught chewing or spitting tobacco may be ready to pay a fine of, say, Rs 2,000, but this is not enough. A person spitting from a luxury car should be made to clean a government office for a day and if a driver spits on the road, his licence should be suspended for at least a month. Only then will they learn a lesson.”Sawant forwarded the suggestion after a meeting with state health department officials last week. “I hope the law department’s response is positive.”The health department wants the police and the local self-government’s involvement in the proposed system. The local self-government will be empowered to function as a monitoring agency. The police will be hand over the guilty to the local self-government, which will punish the person in accordance with the proposed law,” he said.Spitting in public places is a major cause of communicable diseases such as tuberculosis.While Dr Abhay Shukla, national co-convener of Jan Swasthya Abhiyan, called the proposal "positive", he said some issues need to be sorted out first, such as awareness about public sanitation, and adequate funds and staff to implement the plan.BMC has been already implementing a cleanliness bye-law, under which a fine of Rs 200 is levied for spitting. Earlier, BMC had appointed zonal level private cleaning agencies, but this practice was stopped after corporators got extortion complaints.