Facing criticism from all quarters for its bizarre diktats, a Sarva Jatiya Sarva Khap panchayat has now taken initiative to tighten the noose around drug peddlers.
Stating that drug addiction has assumed alarming proportions in the village, the khap panchayat has decided to punish these peddlers at its own level before handing them over to the police if they are found selling drugs at the villages.
The panchayat which was held at Kharakramji village in Jind district recently has also formed a surveillance committee at village level to nab the drug peddlers of their area concerned so that the decision could be executed with immediate effect. The panchayat presided over by Kuldeep Singh Dhandha was attended by representatives of various khaps and people of 17 villages of Jind district.
According to the sources, the khap representatives after a long-discussion over rising trend of drug consuming among the youth in the villages said stringent action would have to be taken against the drug peddlers if they really wanted to protect the future of youths.
"In this situation, severe punishment to the drug peddlers at village panchayat level may be a way out to teach them a lesson so that they could not dare to involve this illegal practice of selling drug in future," said the khap leaders at the meeting.
They added that when the drug peddlers would be humiliated before the panchayat, they would not again dare to do this illegal act hence the drug peddlers were required to be panalised at village level to keep the new generation away from drugs.
"It is a high time to do something special for saving the youth from the drug menace as drugs are being used by the youths in the villages which is unfortunate," said Kuldeep Dhanda, adding that prominent people of the village concerned had been figured in the surveillance committee so as to achieve the goal.
He maintained that the khap leaders would also lend a helping hand to the police in the direction of checking the drug menace in the villages.
Meanwhile, Dharampal Hooda, district president of Akhil Bhartiya Jat Sangharsh Samiti, while informing the media persons here informed that a national conference of Jats namely Akhil Bhartiya Jat Mahasammelan would be organised at Rafi Marg in Delhi on March 30 for discussing various issues pertaining to Jat community besides deciding further course of action to strengthen the on-going campaign for getting status of Other Backward Class (OBC) in centre.