To fight drugs, Punjab to recommend death to smugglers, peddlers

Rajmeet Singh
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, July 2

Punjab Cabinet has recommended death penalty for drug smuggling and peddling, a minister said on Monday, as the state government cracks the whip in its battle against the state’s alarming drug abuse problem.

Punjab Minister Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa told a press briefing after Monday’s Cabinet meeting that the state government suggested harsher measures to deal with the state’s drug problem. The Cabinet has also decided to constitute a subcommittee to review the state’s rehabilitation programme.

The recommendations will be sent to the central government for its approval, the state government's press statement said.

"The Cabinet also decided to constitute a special Working Group under the chairmanship of ACS (Home) NS Kalsi to review and monitor, on a day-to-day basis, the action being taken to check and control drug abuse. The special Working Group constituted to review and update the Government strategy against drugs will have ACS (Health) Satish Chandra, DGP (Law & Order) Ishwar Singh, DGP (Intelligence) Dinkar Gupta and ADGP (STF) HS Sidhu as members," the statement said, quoting the government’s official spokesperson.

A cabinet sub-committee will be instituted under Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, with a special Working Group that will report to it.

Health and Family Welfare Minister Brahm Mohindra and Social Security Minister Aruna Chaudhary will be part of  the sub-committee, which will meet once a week to review progress of the state government’s anti-drug campaign.

The Cabinet held separate meetings with DGP Suresh Arora and STF chief HS Sidhu earlier on Monday. Several ministers are believed to have seethed at police’s top brass for their inability to control the state's drug problem.