2,439 Punjab panchayats vow to fight drugs

Jupinderjit Singh

Chandigarh, July 25

“Our village panchayat has banned drugs. It will not help any drug smuggler’s family in police or legal cases.” This announcement, indicating people’s fight against drugs, has been prominently displayed on a banner at Samrai Akhlaspur village panchayat in Gurdaspur.

This is not the only village in Punjab to take up cudgels against the menace of drugs. This civilian movement against drugs is unfolding quietly across the state after a number of deaths were reported in June due to overdose or spurious drugs. The Punjab Police have reached out to villagers, asking them to help in this endeavour.

So far, 2,439 villages in the state have passed resolutions through ad hoc panchayats (panchayat elections are awaited) to fight drug menace. More villages are likely to do so. Punjab has 13,146 villages and currently the police are holding meetings and seminars in the remaining villages to convince them to join the fight against drugs.

DGP Gaurav Yadav said it was a good beginning as Punjabis had defeated several anti-Punjab conspiracies in the past. “It is the people only who will defeat the menace of drugs too.” “We are witnessing a new positivity among the residents,” said Gurdaspur SSP Harish Kumar Dayama. “People told us they were deeply disturbed by regular news across different media that Punjab was a state of drug addicts. They said a small number of people were bringing bad name to the entire state. So, they want to set things right,” he added.

Vishnu Sharma of the Samrai Akhlaspur panchayat said they had put up banners and posters condemning drugs. “We inform the police immediately about any suspect,” he added. Such meetings are also being held at Bhabour village bordering Himachal Pradesh. Sarpanch Harpreet Kaur said, “Recently, the HP Police arrested a youth from our village on allegations of drug smuggling. The entire village felt bad. We are trying to help the victims and tackle the problem at large.”

According to Health Minister Dr Balbir Singh, there were about 10 lakh addicts in Punjab, out of which 4-5 lakh were hooked on heroin. He gave this information on the floor of the Assembly in March last year.

The state has witnessed a number of drug deaths over the past two months. While victims’ parents and some social organisations claim these were deaths due to “drug overdose”, the police maintained the deaths took place after the supply line was checked and the addicts were supplied spurious drugs by smugglers.

BJP spokesperson Vineet Joshi recently claimed that 587 deaths due to drugs had taken place in Punjab since the AAP government took over from the Congress in March 2022.