No rest till state is free of drugs, says minister
Cabinet Minister Aman Arora on Thursday said the state government would not rest till Punjab was freed of drug menace by crushing drug peddling and smuggling with an iron hand.
Chairing a meeting with civil and police officials under the state government’s flagship “Yudh Nashian Virudh” programme, Arora, who is also a member of the five-member Cabinet sub-committee formed to combat the drug menace in the state, emphasised that either drug peddlers should themselves surrender or remain prepared to face serious consequences as the AAP government would not rest till winning the war on drugs.
Expressing confidence in the Punjab Police, while highlighting their strength, intelligence and ability to apprehend those involved in the illegal activity, he stressed that it was a collective responsibility to help eliminate the drug menace and called on the public to support the police in their efforts to combat drug trafficking.
Arora said the police had been given a free hand to take action against drug peddlers to free society of narcotics.
He revealed that from March 1 to 4, the Punjab Police have registered 580 NDPS cases. As many as 789 suspects had been nominated in these cases and 170 kg of drugs had been seized. Besides, 60 demolitions of illegal properties of drug lords had also been carried out throughout the state.
He urged people to give tip-off about peddlers to eliminate the menace. He also asked the Health Department to check chemist shops and quacks.
Deputy Commissioner Jitendra Jorwal said the prevention and enforcement activities were already being conducted on a large scale, besides de-addiction and rehab institutions were also being strengthened to provide proper treatment and counselling services for individuals struggling with addiction. The individuals would be offered various job opportunities and skill enhancement through training programmes, empowering them to earn a livelihood. A mass awareness campaign against drug abuse had already been launched, collaborating with civil society, industry, educational institutions and NGOs.
He said the administration was also preparing a proposal to upgrade a local hospital into a modern de-addiction and rehabilitation centre. He said the administration would hold a massive marathon to sensitise the community to drug menace this month, besides running small video clips in theatres or on social media, putting wall paintings, holding five-minute talk on drug abuse daily in schools during assembly and other public awareness programmes to make the drive a mass movement.
Commissioner of Police Kuldeep Singh Chahal, Ludhiana SSP (rural) Ankur Gupta and Khanna SSP Jyoti Yadav informed the minister that properties worth hundreds of crores belonging to drug peddlers had been frozen so far besides their illegal encroachments had also been demolished in their respective jurisdictions. They said big fish of the drug trade were also being arrested every day and their entire network would be crushed soon.
Civil Surgeon Pradeep Kumar Mohindra said OPDs at 46 OOAT centres in the state receive 20-40 patients daily.
