–ALSO SEEKS SIMILAR SUPPORT FROM RAJNATH TO CHECK SMUGGLING OF DRUGS FROM DELHI
Chandigarh: Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has sought the cooperation of his counterparts in Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan, as well as the Union Home Minister to whom the Delhi Police reports, in controlling the cultivation and smuggling of narcotics and also ensuring that no safe havens are allowed to drug peddlers and smugglers in their respective regions.
Besides Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, the Chief Minister has written separate letters to Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje about the drug problem.
Noting that drug abuse was seriously threatening the future of our next generation, the Chief Minister said that while he was committed not to let this happen, he would urge them, too, to extend their full and active support in formulating and implementing measures being taken by Punjab to check the menace.
In his letter to the Chief Ministers, Captain Amarinder Singh has requested each of them to advise the enforcement agencies including the police, of their respective states to coordinate with the Punjab Police to make joint efforts in curbing the drug menace. He also requested the Chief Ministers to impress upon the Government of India for a National Policy on Prevention and Control on Drug Abuse, which he said was necessary to regulate and prevent drugs in the country, and also for cooperation and coordination amongst the neighbouring States. “Punjab Police, who are actively chasing the drug peddlers and smugglers, have gathered a lot of intelligence in this regard and they can surely share this with the Police and other enforcement agencies of your State,” he added.
The Chief Minister, in his communique to the Union Home Minister, said that as per available information, drug peddlers and smugglers had disappeared from Punjab and were hiding in the neighbouring States. Apart from smuggling from across the international border, there were reports about smuggling of drugs to Punjab through the neighbouring States of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi, he said, adding that the plantation of drugs was also a cause of worry for Punjab as a lot of the produce was being exported from the drug growing states to his state.
He further said that since the Police of the Union Territory of Delhi, which as per available information is fast becoming a safe haven for drug peddlers and smugglers, is under the direct control and supervision of the Ministry of Home, Government of India, “I seek your indulgence in the matter for directing the Delhi Police to formulate an effective strategy to check and control drug peddling and smuggling.”
Captain Amarinder Singh urged Rajnath to advise Delhi Police to work in close coordination with the Police of the neighbouring States, including the Punjab Police, in their endeavour to obliterate drugs from the society. These joint efforts, guided by a National Policy on prevention and control on drug abuse, would go a long way in securing future of our next generation, Captain Amarinder Singh stressed.
In his letters to all the four leaders, the Punjab Chief Minister said the Punjab government, on its part, was aggressively chasing drug peddlers and smugglers to obliterate drugs from the State, while also making every possible effort to ensure proper and effective treatment of drug addicts with a view to rehabilitating them.
His government, said Captain Amarinder Singh, was pursuing a three-pronged EDP strategy envisaging strict enforcement of laws, de-addiction and prevention of drugs, which had started yielding good results. During the last few weeks, Punjab had been able to build a people’s campaign against drugs, with footfalls in drug rehabilitation centres and Outpatient Opioid Assisted Treatment (OOAT) Clinics, started by his government, showing a substantial increase with greater realization amongst the youth to come out of drugs, the Chief Minister wrote.
