Chandigarh, January 11:
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann on Saturday sought kind intervention of Union Home Minister Amit Shah to provide financial assistance to the state government for setting up special NDPS court to check drug menace.
Participating through video conferencing in the regional conference on ‘Drug Trafficking and National Security’, the Chief Minister urged GOI to give one time financial assistance, for 10 years to State to create Special NDPS Courts and recruitment of public prosecutors along with other supporting staff, of Rs 600 crores (@ Rs.60 Cr. Per year). He said that at present there are 35,000 NDPS cases pending for Session trial as on January 01, 2025 adding that at present rate of disposal, on an average a Session Court takes seven years to complete the trial of pending case leaving aside all new added cases. Bhagwant Singh Mann said that in coming five years, this average disposal time will increase from seven years (35,000 pending cases) to 11 years (55,000 pending cases).
The Chief Minister said that in order to clear the pendency in the next five years, state needs to create 79 new exclusive NDPS Special Courts in Punjab and to appoint 79 Public Prosecutors along with supporting staff for these NDPS Special Courts adding that for it this financial assistance is solicited. He also requested the Union Home Minister to ensure generous funding from National Fund for Control of Drug Abuse (Chapter 7-A of NDPS Act) for Anti-Narcotics Task Force, Live Monitoring Systems for six Bordering Districts, purchase of equipment for technical surveillance, infrastructure and logistic requirement for 5G Jamming solution for Prisons, de-addiction centers in Jails, AI surveillance systems in Jail, Special Prison for drug traffickers and assistance for anti- drug awareness campaigns in all 28 districts. Bhagwant Singh Mann said that the state had sought Rs.2829 Crore through 16th Finance Commission which should be approved at the earliest for effective law enforcement and upgrading infrastructure and logistic support of ANTF and Prisons.
Flagging another issue, the Chief Minister said that with the aim to control, reclaim and rejuvenate drug hotspots in Punjab, hiring of counsellors and coordinators for conducting survey and studies regarding impact of CADA amounting to Rs.107 crores was submitted to Government since 2022, but nothing has been allotted till date adding that it should be released at the earliest. He said that the state faced a full scaled insurgency in the late seventies and eighties, and now is fighting a proxy war with Pakistan to thwart drug trafficking carried out by Pakistan supported stage actors. Bhagwant Singh Mann said that 552 kms of International Border shared with Pakistan is porous which is marked by fencing gap of around 43 kms and riverine gap of 35 kms adding that this makes state vulnerable to cross border drug trafficking.
The Chief Minister said that state’s location along the notorious ‘Golden Cresent’ drug route makes it a key transit point for narcotics and other contraband adding that now drug is consumed by the local population at an alarming level. He said that due to Increased vigil and border fencing, drug trafficking is now majorly done through drones and it poses less chances of getting caught due to which it has become a National problem which is being left to Punjab to fight on its own. Bhagwant Singh Mann said that with its meager resources, the State is fighting a herculean task to fight against the drug abuse.
The Chief Minister said that Punjab Police has raised Anti-Narcotics Task Force with 861 officers/officials who are trained to deal with the drug trafficking. He said that Further each District/Commissionerate of the state has established Narcotic Cell to deal with the drug problem and the state Government has also constituted a State Level ‘Punjab Narcotics Prevention Campaign Committee’ under the chairpersonship of Chief Secretary, Punjab and District Mission Teams under the District Magistrates at district level to co- ordinate between all the stakeholders for curbing the drug abuse. Bhagwant Singh Mann said that A State level Nodal Officer for ‘Anti-Drug Program’ has also been nominated by the Government and state has also commissioned an Anti-Drug Helpline ‘Safe Punjab’, which gives a platform to the citizens to report any drug trafficking incident or any help required for the treatment of drug addict.
The Chief Minister said that it is a matter of immense pride and satisfaction that out of the total 1905 complaints received on this helpline, action has been taken in 856 complaints and FIRs in 31 cases have been registered. He said that the state Government has adopted a policy of Enforcement-Deaddiction- Prevention (EDP) to fight this menace of drug abuse and Under this policy, drug laws are strictly implemented, deaddiction services are provided and drug awareness is spread to prevent the youth and citizens from falling into the drug trap. Bhagwant Singh Mann said that in the last two and half year the state government has registered around 31,500 cases under NDPS Act in which 43,000 accused have been arrested with 3,000 kg of heroin, 2,600 kg of opium and 4.3 Cr of pharmaceutical drugs.
The Chief Minister said illegally acquired property of drug traffickers worth Rs.449 Crore has been frozen from the Competent Authority and With its training and capacity building a conviction rate of 82.5% has been achieved by the State, which is highest in the Country. He said that Habitual offenders of drug trafficking have been detained under PITNDPS Act and the State has developed a software ‘Punjab Artificial Intelligence System’ (PAIS 2.0) as an advance tool designed to help Punjab Police in tracking and analyzing crimes. Bhagwant Singh Mann said that it has a database of 3,32,976 criminals including more than 1 lakh drug offenders which include features like drug seizures data, voice analysis, and criminal link tracking to better handle cases related to narcotics.
The Chief Minister said that With over 18 million searches conducted and 30,804 active users, PAIS provides real-time insights, helping officers make quick decisions and allocate resources effectively adding that it is a powerful tool in the fight against drug related crimes. He said that Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Zonal office at Chandigarh, Amritsar and Regional Office at Amritsar has been given access of PAIS 2.0. Bhagwant Singh Mann said that for deaddiction of drug addicts, free of cost medicines are provided to the addicts in 529 Outpatient Opioid Assisted Treatment (OOAT) clinics. Bhagwant Singh Mann said that 17 OOAT clinic have also been established in the Jails and state government has set up 213 Private as well as Government Deaddiction Centers and 90 Rehabilitation Centers for treatment of drug addicts.
The Chief Minister said that 97,413 addicts were admitted in these Deaddiction and Rehabilitation Centers whereas around 10 lakh patients have undergone treatment in these centers during 2022-2024. He said that in order to prevent the youth from falling into the trap of drug abuse, Government has launched Buddy Program in all the Private/Government Schools, Colleges & Universities and this program aims to prevent drug abuse among the younger generation, particularly students by providing knowledge, imparting behavioral skills and developing a system for self/group monitoring and support. Bhagwant Singh Mann said that Around 29,000 students have been enrolled in this program and 19,523 Village Defense Committees have also been constituted across the State.
The Chief Minister said that drug problem in Punjab is impacting the socio-economic balance, leading to a significant increase in crime, domestic violence and health issues affecting not only the State but Country as a whole. He said that the Narco-Terror drug trade business in Punjab has links with the international cartels who smuggle drugs from Pakistan, Afghanistan and other Countries into the State. Bhagwant Singh Mann said that drug trade in Punjab is believed to be the source of funding of terrorist activities in the State leading to destabilizing National Security.
Batting for A national response to tackle problem of drug, the Chief Minister said that it is necessary to check this problem as it can imbalance the socio-economic structure of the society. He said that Increased and generous central funding is required to support anti-drug initiatives, rehabilitation services, awareness campaigns and law enforcement efforts. Bhagwant Singh Mann said that Border Security Force (BSF) deployed on the Pakistan border in Punjab is required to be strengthened.
Raising another issue, the Chief Minister said that In the last five years, 1247 drone sightings have been reported and 417 drones have been recovered which is a minuscule of the total recovery as at present there are only 12 Jamming system operational on 552 kms of International Border. He said that these cater to only 1/5 of the entire border stretch and has 4/5 of the entire border is without Jamming system. Bhagwant Singh Mann said that a huge cache of drugs and arms have been recovered so far adding that this recovery can be far more for which atleast, 50 more advanced technology Jamming Systems are required.
