India
Shah: Success in anti-drug fight key to India’s advancement, $5-trillion economy: Shah; says most drugs loaded in Pak-Iran region | India News
[ad_1]
BENGALURU: Union home minister Amit Shah on Friday said that a successful anti-drug campaign was key to India’s advancement and goal of achieving a $5 trillion economy by 2025 and that the fight cannot be successful unless there’s a whole of government approach.
Pointing out how the Centre, led by PM Modi has taken the fight to the next level Shah said: “Data for 2006-2013 shows that there were 1,260 drug cases registered and between 2014-2022 there has been a 181% increase with 3,544 cases, a scale never achieved since Independence. In terms of arrests, there has been a 300% increase with 5,408 arrests between 2014 and 2022 compared with 1,363 between 2006 and 2013.”
He added that there’s been a more than 100% increase in drug seizures with more than 3.7-lakh-kg seized during 2014-22 compared to more than 1.5-lakh-kg between 2006 and 2013. “We’ve not just gone through the process but have been very conscious in our approach as indicated by the value of the drugs. Seizures between 2014 and 2022 have been of high-value drugs and are worth Rs 20,000 crore compared to the previous period when drugs seized were worth only Rs 786 crore,” he added.
Drug Loaded In Pak
Further, urging the states to increase focus on drug trafficking through the sea, Shah said: “In the past few years, the Indian Navy, the Coast Guard and some state police departments have done a commendable job in this regard. But this won’t suffice, our sea routes should never be open to drugs going to any part of the world. The southern route, especially between Makhran (near Balochistan) and the Indian Ocean is among the prime routes for trafficking and we need to be more vigilant here as this is worrisome.”
“…The drugs get loaded from Pakistan and Iran and get supplied to various places from Sri Lanka to Africa. We need to stop this. For until this is not stopped we cannot prevent drugs from entering India. We cannot breathe easy unless we hurt these networks and affect their finances. It should be our endeavour to weaken any network that trafficks drugs anywhere in the world,” he said.
He added that unconfirmed reports show that 60% to 70% of drugs are trafficked through the sea and India has launched a significant campaign against this. “Aside from the Navy and Coast Guard we have even made the port authority a stakeholder in NCORD (Apex Level Committee of Narco Coordination Center). After 2019, two key amendments have been brought to NCORD with the creation of committees at various levels, including in the districts,” he said.
Whole Of Govt Approach
He said anti-drug fight is that of the society’s, of people and the end goal is to make India drug-free. “A drug-free society will be one of the key foundations to achieve the PM’s goal of making India the most advanced country by 2047 and to grow our economy to $5-trillion by 2025. And the fight against drugs won’t be successful if any one agency or government carries it out. All the governments in the country and all their agencies must come together to fight against drugs and eventually this should become a fight for every household,” Shah said.
While the home departments in every state are naturally responsible to fight drugs, it is not their fight alone, he said, adding that health, revenue, social welfare, education and culture departments must all come together and work in unison to fight drugs.
“In the last four years, we’ve tried to give a new dimension to this fight. As part of enhanced focus to prevent addiction, there has been an increased effort in detection of drugs, destruction of networks, culprits’ detection and rehabilitation of addicts, which have become the four pillars of our fight against drugs. Until the whole business/network is not detected, we cannot be successful. Therefore, I urge all the southern states and their agencies to change their approach. We need both a bottom-to-top and top-to-bottom investigation approach,” he said.
No matter which part of the country a drug case is registered, the endeavour must be to continue investigation until the entire network — from the top and from the bottom — is destroyed. He, however, expressed concern about agencies not employing all the provisions of the NDPS Act.
“Please review this in your respective states and find out how many cases have led to people going to jail or their assets being seized. Nobody should get bail very easily, we must employ all the severe provisions of NDPS. I urge all states to take on drugs using the four pillars,” he said.
Appreciating efforts being carried out in drug destruction, he urged for high-level review at the minister and DG level of the same every quarter so as to prevent drugs getting out of police custody — reports about which have reached the home ministry through letters — and to increase motivation to fight drugs.
“I am also happy to say that the NCB has met the target of destroying 75,000kg of drugs in 75 days as part of the 75th year of Independence, in barely 60 days. And so far, approximately 5.9-lakh-kg of drugs have been destroyed so far. And what we’ve destroyed here today is worth more than Rs 8,400 crore, which is laudable,” he said.
Pointing out how the Centre, led by PM Modi has taken the fight to the next level Shah said: “Data for 2006-2013 shows that there were 1,260 drug cases registered and between 2014-2022 there has been a 181% increase with 3,544 cases, a scale never achieved since Independence. In terms of arrests, there has been a 300% increase with 5,408 arrests between 2014 and 2022 compared with 1,363 between 2006 and 2013.”
He added that there’s been a more than 100% increase in drug seizures with more than 3.7-lakh-kg seized during 2014-22 compared to more than 1.5-lakh-kg between 2006 and 2013. “We’ve not just gone through the process but have been very conscious in our approach as indicated by the value of the drugs. Seizures between 2014 and 2022 have been of high-value drugs and are worth Rs 20,000 crore compared to the previous period when drugs seized were worth only Rs 786 crore,” he added.
Drug Loaded In Pak
Further, urging the states to increase focus on drug trafficking through the sea, Shah said: “In the past few years, the Indian Navy, the Coast Guard and some state police departments have done a commendable job in this regard. But this won’t suffice, our sea routes should never be open to drugs going to any part of the world. The southern route, especially between Makhran (near Balochistan) and the Indian Ocean is among the prime routes for trafficking and we need to be more vigilant here as this is worrisome.”
“…The drugs get loaded from Pakistan and Iran and get supplied to various places from Sri Lanka to Africa. We need to stop this. For until this is not stopped we cannot prevent drugs from entering India. We cannot breathe easy unless we hurt these networks and affect their finances. It should be our endeavour to weaken any network that trafficks drugs anywhere in the world,” he said.
He added that unconfirmed reports show that 60% to 70% of drugs are trafficked through the sea and India has launched a significant campaign against this. “Aside from the Navy and Coast Guard we have even made the port authority a stakeholder in NCORD (Apex Level Committee of Narco Coordination Center). After 2019, two key amendments have been brought to NCORD with the creation of committees at various levels, including in the districts,” he said.
Whole Of Govt Approach
He said anti-drug fight is that of the society’s, of people and the end goal is to make India drug-free. “A drug-free society will be one of the key foundations to achieve the PM’s goal of making India the most advanced country by 2047 and to grow our economy to $5-trillion by 2025. And the fight against drugs won’t be successful if any one agency or government carries it out. All the governments in the country and all their agencies must come together to fight against drugs and eventually this should become a fight for every household,” Shah said.
While the home departments in every state are naturally responsible to fight drugs, it is not their fight alone, he said, adding that health, revenue, social welfare, education and culture departments must all come together and work in unison to fight drugs.
“In the last four years, we’ve tried to give a new dimension to this fight. As part of enhanced focus to prevent addiction, there has been an increased effort in detection of drugs, destruction of networks, culprits’ detection and rehabilitation of addicts, which have become the four pillars of our fight against drugs. Until the whole business/network is not detected, we cannot be successful. Therefore, I urge all the southern states and their agencies to change their approach. We need both a bottom-to-top and top-to-bottom investigation approach,” he said.
No matter which part of the country a drug case is registered, the endeavour must be to continue investigation until the entire network — from the top and from the bottom — is destroyed. He, however, expressed concern about agencies not employing all the provisions of the NDPS Act.
“Please review this in your respective states and find out how many cases have led to people going to jail or their assets being seized. Nobody should get bail very easily, we must employ all the severe provisions of NDPS. I urge all states to take on drugs using the four pillars,” he said.
Appreciating efforts being carried out in drug destruction, he urged for high-level review at the minister and DG level of the same every quarter so as to prevent drugs getting out of police custody — reports about which have reached the home ministry through letters — and to increase motivation to fight drugs.
“I am also happy to say that the NCB has met the target of destroying 75,000kg of drugs in 75 days as part of the 75th year of Independence, in barely 60 days. And so far, approximately 5.9-lakh-kg of drugs have been destroyed so far. And what we’ve destroyed here today is worth more than Rs 8,400 crore, which is laudable,” he said.
#Shah #Success #antidrug #fight #key #Indias #advancement #5trillion #economy #Shah #drugs #loaded #PakIran #region #India #News
