Measures taken on enforcement against
misuse of Drugs and Narcotics
SRINAGAR, AUGUST
13: 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.