State government adopted zero tolerance policy to curb problem of drugs : Jai Ram Thakur

Shimla : Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur addressed a conference on Drug Trafficking and National security held under the chairmanship of Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Chandigarh today.Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister said that the state government had adopted zero tolerance policy towards complete eradication of social evils like smuggling of psychotropic substances, drugs etc.

Jai Ram Thakur said that under the policy of zero tolerance against drugs, strict action was being ensured against the producers and suppliers of drugs with the aim of bridging the network from the point of origin of the drugs to the point of destination. He said that under this policy, the State Drug Crime Control Unit had been setup at the state level.

The Chief Minister said that proper use of technology was being made against drugs in Himachal Pradesh. He said that the toll free drug prevention helpline number 1908 had been launched by the state government in the year 2019. The main objective of this helpline was to encourage the general public to share information about drug traffickers and to provide counseling to drug addicts and their parents regarding de-addiction.

The identity of the informers was being kept secret.Jai Ram Thakur said that the State Government had also started a mobile app Drug Free Himachal in the year 2019. He said that on this app people could provide information about drug trafficking, its sale and use, with the Police department without revealing their identity.

This app had been downloaded by 42000 citizens and so far 2194 information against drugs had been received on this app. Based on this information, cases had been registered against drug smugglers.The Chief Minister said that a detailed policy was being prepared by the State Government for prevention of drug production, its smuggling and consumption and alternative development programs for rehabilitation, de-addiction etc.

He said that for better coordination between various departments against drug addiction, to make people aware in this direction and to train the stakeholders a Nasha Nivaran Board had also been setup by the state government. He said that along with organizing special awareness camps in the state, drug prevention committees have been constituted at the police station level.

In the last four years, about 10 lakh people have been made aware about the ill effects of drugs by these committees, he added.He said that many innovative practices had been started by the State Police to check drug smugglers which had provided positive results so far. He said that 5855 cases had been registered and 7938 accused were arrested in the last four years under NDPS Act.

Jai Ram Thakur said that drug addiction was a worldwide problem and sincere efforts were being made to eradicate this social evil in Himachal Pradesh with the cooperation of the people. He said that to tackle the serious problem of drug addiction in a holistic manner, the Inter-State Drug Secretariat had been set up at Panchkula jointly by Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and Union Territory of Chandigarh in the year 2019.

The Chief Minister stressed on the need to make the process of drug prevention and control more emphatic besides training on practical utilization of technology. He also stressed on joint and coordinated action against drug smugglers.In this conference, Governor of Punjab Banwari Lal Purohit, Chief Minister of Haryana Manohar Lal Khattar, Chief Minister of Punjab Bhagwant Mann and Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir Manoj Sinha also shared detailed information about the work being done against drug abuse in their respective States and UTs.

Director General of Police, Himachal Pradesh Sanjay Kundu, Principal Secretary GAD Bharat Khera, senior police officers from various states and senior officials of Narcotics Control Bureau were also present on the occasion among others.