SHIMLA: Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu has called for granting more power to states to combat the drug mafia effectively. Sukhu suggested imposing a fine of Rs five lakh and confiscating properties of offenders.
In a virtual address during a regional jumbo conference on 'Drug smuggling and National Security,' he proposed amending the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
CM Sukhu urged the Union Government to establish a zonal office of the Narcotics Control Bureau and a Modern Hi-Tech Jail in Kullu district, as well as a Modern Forensic Laboratory and Mobile Lab in the state.
Chief Minister emphasized the need for a provision in the Act that allows the confiscation of properties belonging to drug peddlers.
He also advocated for enhancing the punishment for drug offenses from five years to life imprisonment and making the offense cognizable and non-bailable, irrespective of the quantity involved.
Chief Minister stressed the importance of addressing drug overdose cases leading to deaths and called for necessary changes in the Act.
Chief Minister also requested liberal financial assistance from the Central Government to operate Drug De-addiction Centres in Himachal Pradesh.
He said that a resolution against drug abuse has been passed in the state Vidhan Sabha and shared statistics indicating a substantial increase in the number of FIRs by 40 percent followed by 34 percent of arrests and 50 percent seizure of psychotropic substances within the state.
"Himachal Pradesh is among the few States in the country employing preventive detention measures to combat the problem effectively and has also constituted an Advisory Board in this regard", the Chief Minister said.
The meeting was attended by Governors, Deputy Chief Ministers and senior officers from various States, and Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister Bharat Khera, DGP Sanjay Kundu, Commissioner of State Taxes and Excise Department, Yunus, ADGPs Satwant Atwal and Abhishek Trivedi, Principal Private Secretary to the Chief Minister Vivek Bhatia, Special Secretary State Taxes and Excise Harbans Singh Brascon and other senior officers of the State Government were present at Shimla.
