Addiction cases on rise, but registered cases down: Cong
The BJP government was in the firing line of the Congress on its alleged failure to tackle the drug menace in Haryana.
Quoting Central Government figures while moving the calling attention motion, Congress MLA Shish Pal Keharwala alleged that there was no government strategy to tackle drug menace, especially the increasing use of synthetic drugs, as there were 14.8 lakh OPDs related to drugs. Of these, nearly 9 lakh OPD cases were in Sirsa district alone, which shared border with Punjab, he asserted.
Claiming that while drug addiction cases were on the rise, the number of registered cases against the offenders had gone down in the last five years. "While small-time operators were arrested, the big traffickers went scot free,” Keharwala alleged.
Senior Congress MLA Ashok Arora alleged that the cases were on the rise in the districts bordering Punjab. Echoing similar sentiments, Mandeep Chatha alleged that the drug trade was carried out in connivance of the administration and the police. “The rampant use of synthetic drugs by youths, who lacked employment opportunities, led to them falling prey to drugs, and rise in crime,” Chatha alleged.
In his spirited reply, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Mahipal Dhanda informed that in 2020-2024, the police had registered 16,781 cases and 25,446 arrests were made under the NDPS Act. Besides, Dhanda claimed that 111 illegally-acquired properties of nearly 100 traffickers, valued at about Rs 52.79 crore, had been razed.
Besides, 969 cases had been registered and 1,325 arrests made for selling prohibited drugs. Licences of over 100 chemists had been cancelled in January and February 2025, 567 cases had been registered and 888 arrests made, the minister said.
Reiterating the government’s commitment to tackle the meance, Dhanda mooted a high-level committee headed by the CM. Speaker Harvinder Kalyan also batted for a CM-led committee to tackle the drug menace.
