Snuff out narcotics nexus

The joint committee formed by the Union Government to fight drug trafficking is a small but important step in tackling the growing menace that has had an especially debilitating impact on India's border States, home to disproportionately large numbers of drug addicts. Drug trafficking through the border States has always been tightly linked to the country's national security and sovereignty concerns. For example, an estimated 15 per cent of the finances of Kashmiri militant groups comes from the illegal sale of narcotics. Similarly, militant groups in Punjab and the North-East have used drug money to finance their operations in India.

The same routes through which drugs are trafficked serve as conduits for guns, bombs and slaves. Remember, Dawood Ibrahim's gang smuggled the explosives that were used in the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts via the same channels through which it used to bring in drugs and other contraband items from across the border. Thankfully, nowhere in India — be it Kashmir, Punjab or the North-East — is the militancy situation now as bad as it was in the 1990s. But while the political threats have been subdued, they haven't been obliterated. Also, the criminal rackets are very much in place, especially as the security situation is the sub-continent hasn't improved very much. In fact, India has now emerged as a hub for the trans-shipment of heroin, produced in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region and sold all over the world. 

late last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had drawn attention to the issue in his radio programme Mann Ki Baat and it is heartening to see the Government carry forward the momentum he had generated, through concrete steps on the ground. Apart from setting up the joint committee, the Government has also recently carried out a pilot survey in Punjab and Manipur, arguably, two of the worst affected States, to gauge the extent of the drug problem.

The last survey on drug abuse in India was done more than a decade ago in 2001. At that time, the study showed that more than 7.5 crore Indians, a conservative estimate, as even Government officials have acknowledged, were addicted to some kind of illicit substance. Almost 15 years later, that number is expected to have ballooned to menacing proportions. Unfortunately, previous Governments haven't had a comprehensive plan to fight drug trafficking. Most efforts have been undertaken in a piecemeal manner, focusing either solely on border management or law enforcement or public health or shutting down channels of illicit financing.

This is where the Modi regime is expected to do things differently — by offering a holistic plan of action that tackles the problem at all levels and across all sectors. Apart from the security aspects, the plan will have to include significantly improving institutional capability to deal with addicts by setting up more de-addiction centres and bringing in more psychiatrists, therapists and mental health professionals.