Drug survey complete in Punjab's Moga, Fazilka; statewide progress 53%

The Punjab Government’s ambitious Drug and Socio-Economic Survey has been completed in two districts, including Moga, one of the worst affected by illicit drugs. Fazilka is the other district where the survey has been completed.

According to official data, all households in Moga and Fazilka districts have been covered. In 11 other districts, surveyors have reached out to 50 per cent people and collected relevant data.

32.37 lakh households covered so far

Overall, data has been collected from 32.37 lakh households across the state, about 53 per cent of the target of 60.35 lakh.

The survey, launched in April, was initially scheduled to conclude by June 30. The deadline was extended to July 15 and is now likely to be pushed further to July 31, as several districts remain behind schedule.

A senior officer said analysis would begin once data collection was complete and it could take another two months. Findings would be presented to the Council of Ministers and might later be tabled in the Vidhan Sabha.

The exercise aims to identify causes of drug abuse, assess the success of anti-drug campaigns and design targeted interventions. It will also help validate welfare schemes for different socio-economic groups in the state.

Around 22,330 government employees are involved in the survey.

Work progress varies

across districts

In Mansa, 94.3 per cent households have been covered, while the coverage is over 75 per cent in Fatehgarh Sahib, Faridkot and Muktsar. Ludhiana, Gurdaspur and Ropar are lagging, with more than 60 per cent of respondents yet to be reached. Officials in slow-performing districts said enumerators were initially occupied with Census duties. They also reported reluctance among some residents to answer questions on drug abuse or government policies.

According to a report by The Tribune last month, Fazilka led performance rankings with 61.17 per cent of its survey work completed, closely followed by Mansa in second position at 60.07 per cent.