Haryana hosted regional conference of Norhtern States to fight against Drug Menace

Five northern states Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and Union territories of and Delhi and Chandigarh have decided to set up centralised secretariat at Panchkula (Haryana) to tackle the drug menace.
It was decided in inter-State regional conference of Chief Ministers organised in Chandigarh by Haryana government on issue of “Drug menace, challenges and strategies”.

Reason behind the conference :

• This conference came in the backdrop after the recent curbs on drug trafficking in Punjab, that have driven drug peddlers to different neighbouring states to explore new markets and clients.

Key Facts of Conference :

• The conference was attended by Chief Ministers : Manohar Lal Khattar (Haryana), Amarinder Singh (Punjab) and Trivendra Singh Rawat (Uttarakhand). Himachal Pradesh counterpart Jairam Thakur attended it through videoconferencing.
• It was decided to set up centralised secretariat at Panchkula which will host nodal officers from each of these northern states and UTs. Capt. Amarinder Singh also sought deputation of nodal officers from various central agencies like the BSF, DRI, NCB, RPF, CISF and Customs at the states’ joint secretariat at Panchkula as a necessary measure for closer coordination in the anti-drug fight.
• These officers will be deputed for sharing intelligence and information.
• It aims to have mechanism for quick and proactive information exchange on drug trends, cases registered and persons named, wanted or arrested.
• It will host monthly meeting of special task forces and quarterly meetings at level of Home Secretaries to build inter-agency trust to break and demolish the supply chains to tackle the drug menace.
• The Senior Superintendents of Police of the adjoining districts of various states would coordinate on a day-to-day level.
• The chief ministers will meet every six months to monitor the progress of the joint strategy against drugs, while officers will meet every three months.

Analysis :

• As from the past experiences so far in state-specific battles against drugs it was recognized that there is a need of common developing strategies and actions that governments of different states should take to protect our youth, children and the next generations from the harm of drugs.
• Regular meetings at various levels is the need of hour to tackle the problem and monitor the progress of the anti-drug fight.
• States would launch a major awareness campaign in their respective schools, while engaging youth in sports and other activities at village levels to prevent young children from falling prey to drug addiction.
• Skill development of youth would also be undertaken on a major scale to prevent the spread of drugs.
• All the states were of the view that information and data sharing was critical to making the fight against drugs a success, so a regional cooperative framework of the northern states should be established to institutionalise inter-state and inter-agency coordination to deal with the menace of drugs.
• The affected states approach the Centre for funds for drug prevention, which could be arranged through 21 departments of the Central government.
• Stress should be given to frame the national policy on drugs. There must be restrictions on drug plantations and better mechanisms to prevent diversion in the neighbouring states where illicit cultivation takes place. Mere seizure of the drugs will not solve the problem, prescribing the need for tougher measures.
• As we see in the news that majority proportion involved in drug trafficking are foreigners especially Nigerians so, verification of foreign students sponsored by NGOs should be done through the Ministry of Human Resource Development.
• Parents should create a drug-free atmosphere at homes and and spend maximum time with their children. The need of the hour is to re-introduce societal policing as people in society can play an important role in helping create a drug-free states.
• Emphasis should be given upon having fast- track courts to decide drug cases, Prevention of Anti-Social Activities Act should be invoked against drug peddlers, with a special board being formed in case of arrest for more than three months.
• Need of investing more resources in setting up more de-addiction centres and strengthening the existing ones whether in the public or private sector.
• A consolidated approach and more work needed to be done to save the youth of India from devastation and destruction at the hands of unscrupulous drug dealers and smugglers.

By: Harman Sandhu