Pawan Khera ctiticises Union Home Ministry’s drug control efforts amid rising substance abuse in India

New Delhi [India], July 21 (ANI): Highlighting the increase in drug consumption in India in recent years, Senior Congress leader Pawan Khera criticised the Union Home Ministry for making bold claims about controlling drugs in the country.

Taking to social media platform ‘X’ on Saturday, Pawan Khera tweeted, “Mr. @HMOIndia, in June 2023, you had said, ‘The Modi government will root out drugs from India; not allow smuggling of narcotics through the country.’ But Sanjay Kumar Singh, Deputy DG at Narcotics Control Bureau, claims that ‘The consumption of drugs among the youth is increasing, and there are roughly around 10 crore Indians who consume drugs. It used to be around 2 crore, 15 years ago.'”

“The DRI Report, 2021-22, mentions the seizure of 2,889 kg of heroin at Mundra Port, owned by Adani Port & SEZ (worth Rs21,000 crore), the highest ever so far in the world. In September 2020, heroin worth Rs9,000 crore was seized from the same port. Drug traffickers reportedly had links with Pakistani terror outfits,” Khera wrote in a post on X, shedding light on the increase in drugs in India.

He further stated that the Union Home Ministry itself has yet to respond to the Delhi High Court regarding the missing 70,000 kilogrammes of heroin, valued at Rs5 lakh crore, from seizures between 2018-2020.

Citing data from the International Narcotics Control Board, Khera stated that the INCB 2023 report indicates over 40% of the world’s opioid users reside in India.

“The UN Office on Drugs and Crime’s World Drug Report 2022 revealed that Punjab is leading in India’s epidemic of opioid users, while Gujarat is now the third worst state in terms of drug overdose deaths,” he mentioned on X.

He added that around 15.8 million children aged between 10 and 17 years are addicted to substances in India, as informed by the Indian government to the Supreme Court on December 14, 2022.

“The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment estimated the number of opioid users in India at 23 million in 2018, a 600 percent increase since 2004,” Khera pointed out.

He stated that “interagency collaboration” in India is not up to the mark, which has led to an increase in drug trafficking.

Pledging to make India drug-free, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Thursday that India will not allow “even a gram” of drugs to enter the country nor will it allow its borders to be used for drug trade in any manner.

“Now, drug syndicates are trying to enter through the maritime border. Officials were casually telling me about these drugs’ destinations. We should make a resolution that we will not allow a single gram of drugs to come into India from anywhere, nor will we allow India’s borders to be used for drug trade in any way,” Amit Shah said while emphasising how drug syndicates are trying to infiltrate through the maritime border.

Shah was speaking at the 7th Apex Level Narco-Coordination Centre (NCORD) Meeting at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi, on Thursday, where he pledged to make India free from drugs. He further appealed to the states to adopt a “ruthless” approach towards the drug supply chain, emphasising a commitment to preventing any drugs from entering the country and ensuring that India’s borders are not used for drug trafficking.

During the meeting, Shah informed that major drug syndicates were busted and a huge quantity of drugs had been seized from 2014 to 2024, three times more than from 2003 to 2013. The meeting aimed at coordinating and synergizing the efforts of various central and state government agencies involved in countering drug trafficking and abuse in India.

Addressing the meeting, Union Minister Amit Shah said, “Today, in NCORD’s 7th Apex Meeting, I want to express gratitude to all the officials involved in the fight against narcotics from 2019-2024. But, in this duration, we have achieved only 1/10th of the target. An infrastructure has been built up and seriousness has been built in all departments of the government. We have succeeded in promoting it as a campaign.”

He added that the motto of the agencies was ‘Need to Know,’ but now they should move towards ‘Duty to Share,’ and this major change will have to be adopted by all agencies.

Shah also mentioned that the government is going to provide kits for primary testing of narcotics at a cheaper rate, which will make filing cases much easier.

“But we can’t win this fight until individuals below the age of 33 hold a resolution to fight against narcotics and individuals beyond the age of 35 decide to guide them. The government can provide directions to these fights, that’s why our approach is to take these fights among 130 crore people. I believe all the departments and officials of states need to integrate this approach into their targets,” said Shah.

He also mentioned that Prime Minister Modi has set a target to make India first in every field by 2047, which is possible only by keeping the younger generation away from the scourge of drugs.

Specifying about hardships of ‘Nasha Mukt Bharat,’ Shah said, “The resolution of ‘Nasha Mukt Bharat’ is a big resolution along with a challenge and target. But it is also one of the biggest opportunities to win this fight against drugs. We have examples of several Western countries. I have deeply researched this topic. They have removed it from being a criminal offense, not due to a liberal and lenient approach, but due to their helplessness, as their jails do not have enough space. Again, I urge all of the departments to take a little time from their busy schedule and fight against drugs.”

Stating the facts, Shah said, “In the past 5 years, we tried to grapple with drugs and implemented various structural, institutional, and informational reforms. Between 2004 to 2013, around 1 lakh 52 thousand kg of drugs worth Rs 5,933 crores were seized, while between 2014-2024, we seized 5 lakhs 43 thousand kg of drugs worth Rs 22,000 crore, which means we succeeded by 3 times. We busted various drug networks too.”

Amit Shah directed officials in the NCORD meeting, saying, “The drug trade is now associated with narco-terror, posing a serious threat to the security of the nation. This trade also strengthens the channels that weaken our economy. The drug cartels get involved in hawala transactions and tax evasion. This is a multi-layered crime and we need to deal with it harshly. I want to urge all agencies and state police to set their target to detaining drug businesses and syndicates rather than detaining drug users, for which a top-to-bottom and vice versa investigation is needed.”

Addressing the issue of synthetic drugs, Shah stated, “Now, we have to tackle the problem of synthetic drugs in our country. We have busted various illegal labs. I want every anti-narcotics agency to take inputs about these labs from NCB and bust such activities in their state.”

He concluded the meeting with a resolution to adopt a ruthless approach and said, “The meetings of NCORD should be outcome-based and result-oriented, with an approach to achieve the fixed target made on a regional basis. On a serious note, we need to continue with a ruthless approach to bust the drug supply chain, a strategic approach to demand reduction, and a human approach to harm reduction.”