Excelsior Correspondent
Illegal drugs and narcotics remains a pressing issue with far-reaching consequences, encompassing health, social, and economic dimensions that affect individuals, families, and the community on a profound level.
The UT Government is committed to fight the drug menace through a coordinated and multi-pronged approach which includes prevention, enforcement, treatment and rehabilitation & IEC strategies.
The steps taken to address the problem of illegal drugs and narcotics is being reviewed under Narco-Coordination Centre (NCORD) mechanism through regular meetings of UT NCORD chaired by the Chief Secretary.
The forum has been committed to ensure adoption of “Zero Tolerance Policy” against drug trafficking to curb the menace of drugs by strengthening of institutional structure, coordination among all narco agencies and extensive public awareness campaign. In the 10th UT level NCORD meeting held recently, various issues were discussed and instructions issued to all the concerned departments/organizations.
Among these directions, the law enforcement agencies, particularly the J&K Police has been instructed to ensure intelligence sharing, strict action, effective and lacuna free investigation in all cases of drug trafficking. The NCORD has emphasized leveraging information from the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) and the NIDAAN portal to target drug peddlers more effectively.
Significant Law Enforcement Achievements
In its efforts against drug abuse, the J&K Police has achieved substantial results, marked by rigorous law enforcement actions, large scale seizures, effective judicial proceedings and extensive community engagement. Since 2023, a total of 3190 cases have been registered and 4536 persons have been arrested in the crackdown against illegal narcotic trade network. In order to break the supply chain, the Law Enforcing Authorities have invoked PIT NDPS Act against the drug kingpins, resulting in 463 orders of detention for the last 18 months.
This has been supplemented with swift intelligence resulting in interception and seizure of huge amount of commercial quantities. During the year 2023, the number of commercial quantity seizures was 319, whereas, the figure for the year 2024 upto June stands at 110. To prevent pilferage of seized narcotics, drugs are disposed of through court-ordered incineration. In 2023, 29,306 kg of drugs and 74,179 pharmaceuticals were destroyed, with 4,365 kg of drugs and 26,772 pharmaceuticals destroyed in the first half of 2024.
Addressing the Link Between Narcotics and Terrorism
This government acknowledges the need to arrest the linkage between narcotics and terrorism and this has manifested in the crackdown on narco terror networks involving arrest of 39 persons in 19 cases during the past one and a half year.
Given the seriousness of the issue, all the law enforcement agencies have been instructed to adopt stringent measures that include attachment of properties in NDPS cases with the objective of disrupting the drug trafficking networks financially. In a total of 43 such cases, the J&K Police has attached residential houses, landed property and vehicles etc amounting to Rs. 10.36 Crores cases since 2023.
Enhanced Regulation and Monitoring
UT level NCORD has also laid stress on strict regulation of the sale of psychotropic substance and other related drugs through introduction of Computerized Billing System (CBS) and CCTV installations across all drug market of wholesale and retail license holders, through Drug Control Organization/Health and Medical Education Department.
Besides, the Committee has also instructed the Excise Department as well as the district authorities to monitor the details of the land being used for cultivation of contraband substances so that effective action is taken in the matter. In this regard, the J&K Police has under taken significant efforts to destroy illicit crops, particularly poppy and cannabis. During 2023, illegal cultivation of poppy and cannabis over 9448 Kanals of land was destroyed by the law enforcement agencies.
The government has ensured zero tolerance against government employees found involved in drug trafficking and illegal narcotics trade. All such cases have been compiled and based on the instructions issued during the UT level NCORD meeting, the concerned departments have been asked to initiate strict departmental action in each case.
Commitment to Rehabilitation and Awareness
On the rehabilitation front, the government has taken substantial measures like establishment of de-addiction centers. Other than the 04 drug de-addiction centers of the Social Welfare Department and 21 Health/Additional Treatment Facility centers (ATFs), the police department has also established 10 drug de-addiction centers. In the year 2023, there have been a total of 14180 OPDs and 1931 IPD treatments. These figures for 2024 upto June stand at 5318 and 561 respectively. Besides, there are 06 private drug de-addiction centers functioning within the UT of J&K.
The UT level NCORD has instructed to ensure strict implementation of SOPs for monitoring the activities of drug de-addiction center besides taking action against such centers operating in private sector which do not meet such requirements. Besides, Health and Medical Education Department has also been asked to explore the possibilities of supplementing the resources of the centers being managed by J&K Police and Social Welfare Department. DIAL 104 Call Centre by National Health Mission is holding online counseling and Tele-Manas (Telephonic psychological counseling) @ 14416 is operational for helping those affected by the drug abuse.
Mass awareness programs to particularly educate the youth against the detrimental effects of drug abuse are being conducted through various agencies of the government besides collaborations with NGOs and civil society groups. During the year 2023, 19008 awareness programs were organized.
The UT level NCORD has been consistently monitoring the progress made under the Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyan (NMBA) aimed at reaching out to the masses and spreading awareness about substance abuse, both through Panchayats and Urban Local Bodies. Under the Abhiyan, 940 Panchayats/ULBs have been declared drug free under the ambit of SOP framed by the Government.
The Committee has issued instructions to the Health and Medical Education Department to dovetail all the rehabilitation measures under operation through Mission Youth and Social Welfare Department so that there is an effective rehabilitation of those involved in substance abuse through skill development and employment generation.
In terms of the established mechanism, district level NCORD meetings are also being regularly held under the chairmanship of District Magistrates for better coordination among different organizations to deal with the issue of drug trafficking and substance abuse. During the year 2023, 193 number of District NCORD meetings have been held.
The government remains resolute in its mission to combat drug related crime and support community well being reflecting a strong commitment to maintaining public safety and disrupting illicit narcotics networks.
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