Zero tolerance policy towards narcotics showing results: HM Amit Shah
Says more stringent laws needed for anti-narcotics efforts
Chandigarh: The Centre’s zero-tolerance policy towards narcotics is showing results, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Saturday, noting that there were seizures of 3.3 lakh kg drugs and a 260 per cent increase in arrests in the 20014-21 period compared to 2006-13.
Stating that the drug problem was “more” in Punjab, a border state, he asserted the Centre stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the state government in the fight against the drug menace.
Shah said the government is holding talks with all stakeholders to make laws more stringent and has taken a proactive approach to connect with the states in the anti-narcotics efforts.
Eliminating the scourge is necessary to achieve the objective of a healthy society and prosperous nation. Also, it was important from the security point of view as “the dirty money generated from the drug trade is used in activities against the country”, the minister said.
He was speaking after inaugurating a two-day national conference on drug trafficking and national security organised by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCC).
“Everyone says the drug problem is more in Punjab, which is a border state. Therefore, we will have to make more efforts.
“If the state government allots land, the Centre will set up a forensic lab in Amritsar and a small centre of NCB for training purposes,” he said.
“…We have to make joint efforts to fight this problem… The Government of India stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the Punjab government to fight the drug menace. We have to pull out the youth of Punjab from the drug menace,” said Shah.
“For the first time since independence, today, with a clear direction and a fast pace, we have been able to take the fight against drugs forward, which has also resulted in achieving success. Drugs have a bad effect on the security of the individual, society, economy and country, so it is necessary to firmly uproot it,” the Union Home Minister said.
“No healthy, prosperous, capable and safe nation can serve its purpose without adopting a policy of zero tolerance against drug trafficking,” he added.
Fight Against Drugs
The quantity of drugs seized has more than doubled
Drugs worth Rs 768 crore were seized from 2006 to 2013
Govt running campaign to seize, destroy drugs worth Rs 20,000 Cr
21 states have also constituted anti-narcotics task forces
Committee formed to prevent misuse of dual-use medicines
Fight against drug abuse being pursued in 272 districts and more than 80 thousand villages
75-day drug destruction drive is going on from June to August 15
Drugs destroyed estimated to cost 3000 Cr in black market
Home Ministry started work on a three-tier formula to strengthen institutional structure
National Integrated Database (Diagnostics) on Narco-criminals has been created
SC being requested to consider fast track courts for drug related cases
“The Ministry of Home Affairs has also worked since 2019 to create a coordination mechanism to ensure that there are no loopholes anywhere in the district through encore. Nearly 200 percent more cases have been registered in the last 8 years between 2014-2022 as compared to 2006-2013, with the number of arrests increasing by 260 percent,” he said.
Drugs worth Rs 768 crore were seized from 2006 to 2013, while between 2014 and 2021, the government of India is running a campaign to seize and destroy drugs worth Rs 20,000 crore.
Shah said when Narendra Modi became prime minister in 2014, the Centre adopted a zero-tolerance policy towards narcotics.
The fight against drugs, which was progressing swiftly and in the right direction, has started showing results, he said,
Shah said 1.52 lakh kg drugs were confiscated during 2006-2013 while 3.3 lakh kg drugs were seized in the 2014-2021 period.
Between 2006-2013, Rs 768 crore worth of drugs were seized while between 2014-21, Rs 20,000 crore worth of drugs were seized, he said.
Shah said there has been a 200 per cent increase in the number of cases registered. During the past seven years (2014-2021), there has been a 260 per cent increase in arrests made, he said.
“In this fight, bringing states together and taking on this scourge with synergy is very important,” he said.
He said that the drugs have an adverse impact not only on those consuming them but also on society, the economy and the country’s security. “We have to weed it out completely,” he said.
Coinciding with the conference, nearly 31,000 kg drugs were destroyed by the NCB teams in Delhi, Chennai, Guwahati and Kolkata.
Shah said various ministries, including Home, Education, Social Justice and Empowerment and Health, in coordination with various agencies, including the NCB, have joined hands in the battle against drugs.
He said the Home Ministry has adopted a multi-pronged approach to prevent inimical forces from using “the dirty money” generated from the drug trade against anti-India activities.
“We have adopted a proactive approach to connect the states with it (the fight against drugs),” he said.
“The results are encouraging and it shows that it isn’t a problem that can’t be weeded out completely,” said Shah, stressing that all agencies should complement each other’s efforts.
For coordination among various central and state agencies, the Narco Coordination Centre (NCORD) mechanism was set up by MHA in the year 2016 to conduct regular meetings.
This NCORD system has been restructured to four tiers up to the district level by MHA in 2019 for better coordination and cooperation and meetings are held regularly, said Shah.
“We have to give more thrust at the district level… if the desired results have to be achieved,” Shah noted.
The Home Minister said that we have a lot of expectations from the states, this fight alone cannot be fought by the Central Government, the speed of fighting the battle of the State is more than double that of the Centre, only then the result comes and the State can’t fight alone, all of us have to take this fight forward together.
In the case of major seizure of drugs, he requested the states not to make it a Centre-State affair, wherever you feel that the case goes beyond the state borders, you should cooperate with the NCB and the NIA.
Pointing to the presence of chief ministers of Punjab and Haryana as well as the Punjab governor at the conference, he urged them to devote at least three hours a week and a day a month to the narcotics issue.
“Till the time we do not take this approach and till the time this culture does not start from our office, it cannot percolate down below,” he said.
He expressed satisfaction that 21 states have set up anti-narcotics taskforce.
He said the darknet and cryptocurrency are linked to the narcotics trade and the Home Ministry has recently set up a task force in this regard.
The Union Home Minister said that the theme of today’s seminar is very serious.
“We want to percolate the seriousness of the Government of India on this subject from the State to the district, from the district to the tehsil and from the tehsil to the gram panchayat, that is why we have made this seminar a seminar of five States,” he said.
He said there are two regions of the country – the North-East and the Northern part – where drugs come from the borders.
“But we can’t sit blindly because every problem has a solution and needs to be found. It is very important to bring the states together in this fight and fight the battle with a synergy. If there is a discussion on the platform among all the agencies working in the field of narcotics and if everyone’s efforts complement each other, the results will be more. With the nectar that will come out of the brainstorming of this seminar, we will be able to save the generations to come,” he added. (with PTI inputs)
Press Trust of India
