Concentrating on the spread of drug menace in the districts sharing border with Punjab, Haryana has come up with a three pronged strategy to check the drug abuse in these districts. A three pronged strategy has been prepared to hit at the scourge.
Admitting a special stress on the drug abuse in bordering districts, Haryana Health Minister Anil Vij said that the recoveries of illegal drugs, including illegal liquor in Fatehabad district in last one month have played as an eye opener and made it clear that drug abuse in the districts bordering with Punjab had reached alarming proportions. And the problem does not contain to Fatehabad only, districts like Sirsa, Ambala and Kaithal too are under constant threat.
Vij said that huge quantities of banned drugs, including Heroin, Charas and Cannabis have been confiscated in the raids conducted during this period. Even the President of Chemist Association in Fatehabad had been booked for illegal drugs, Vij told.
Thus to check further growth of this danger, he had called a meeting of Additional Chief Secretary (ACS), Health, ACS-Home, ACS-Social Justice and Empowerment, State’s Director General of Health Services and other concerned officials. We have decided to construct an iron curtain along the Punjab border to save our youth from the drug abuse.
Informing about the strategy of the government to tackle the issue, Vij said that a three pronged strategy has been prepared to tackle the issue. The strategy includes Preventive, Curative and Educative measures. Under the Preventive measures, efforts would be made to stop the distribution of illegal drugs and liquor through enforcement agencies, under Educative measures, public awareness programmes would be run involving schools, colleges and social organisations in the state. And the rehabilitation of drug addicts would be taken care under the curative measures.
Under the preventive part, enforcement committee will be set up in the districts comprising of the Deputy Commissioners, Civil Surgeon, Excise and Taxation and police officials, which will conduct joint raids and will also be responsible for assessment of the drug situation in their area and for the preparation of a district specific plan to combat the menace,
It has also been decided to form joint committees in district level to conduct raids. Additional Chief Secretary Social Justice and Empowerment Sunil Gulati, has been appointed the head of the state level committee to take up the entire joint operation.
Vij said that a review meeting of various concerned officials would be called each month and report would be sought on the steps taken to combat the menace. Inputs from intelligence agencies would also be taken.
The issue of drugs in bordering districts had taken the centre stage around a month back when a spat between Anil Vij and former SP of Fatehabad district Sangeeta Kalia on the issue of drug flow in Fatehabad, went viral.