Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Sunday sought the support of Central Government for checking the flow of drugs in the State.
Badal, addressing a gathering on the occasion to felicitate various organisations by Sri Ram Naumi Utsav Committee, said that the curse of drugs was one of the biggest problems being faced by the country in general and Punjab in particular. “The only solution for checking this menace is to totally cut down the supply line of drugs both from within the country and from abroad,” he said.
Badal said: “”The need of the hour is to evolve such a mechanism that disallows entry of even 10 grams of narcotics in the State.” “Serious efforts must be initiated for sealing the border apart from desisting the neighbouring States of Punjab to openly sell drugs like poppy husk,” he said.
Exhorting all political parties of the state to join hands against the menace, the Chief Minister said that it was not the time to play dirty politics on this issue by “spitting venom” against each other but all political parties should work collectively to check the problem.
“On its part, the State Government has been making efforts for checking the problem by cracking down heavily on drug peddlers, besides setting up drug de-addiction and rehabilitation centers for the addicts,” he said.
likewise, Badal said that unemployment was the biggest reason of drug addiction and therefore a network of skill centers was being set up for enabling the youth to get self-employed.