Why Punjab’s war on drugs remains a challenge
Punjab’s war against drugs has become a daily battle between enforcement and empathy, recovery and relapse. Despite a statewide campaign, the focus, experts say, is still on punishment rather than treatment
Updated At : 06:55 AM Nov 02, 2025 IST
Under the Punjab government’s ‘Yudh Nashian Virudh’ , between March and October, over 23,000 FIRs have been registered. Still, experts feel, the challenges are only mounting. tribune photo
IT was not greed that drove them, but the desperation that comes with drug addiction. A couple from Akbarpur Khudal village in Mansa district recently “sold” their five-month-old boy for Rs 1.8 lakh as they had no money for their daily fix. The infant was rescued when his aunt alerted the police. The parents, in their early twenties, and the “buyer” were arrested. The frail mother was once a state-level wrestler. The Mansa shocker came as a reality check amid the daily announcements of gains of the Punjab government’s renewed anti-drug push.
