‘Establish specialized courts against drugs, prosecute in a fast-track mode’

NEW DELHI: Terming the Central government’s campaign against drug abuse a “sacred mission” to save future genera-tions, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday urged the states to establish specialized courts against drugs and conduct their prosecution in a fast-track mode.

Speaking at the Regional Conference on ‘Drug Trafficking and National Security’ here in the national capital, the Minister also said that harsher punishment will act as a stronger deterrent as it will send a stronger message. Shah added that the confiscation of assets of those involved in the illicit drug trade should be increased, and emphasized that public shaming and boycott of these indi-viduals will discourage others from joining this trade. The Minister stressed the need to move “ruthlessly” towards the confiscation of assets.

For this, Shah said, “Until we strengthen the Forensic Science Labs (FSL), the prosecution will not progress.”

He emphasized that this is a question of initiative, not resources.

“Similarly, for the eradication of illegal cultivation, especially in the northern regions, the Chief Ministers of those states need to pay special attention.”

The Union Home Minister said that our campaign against drug abuse is a “sacred mission to save the future generations of the country, to keep the nation safe, and it should be our top priority.”

The Minister made the appeal as Lieutenant Governor of Delhi Vinay Kumar Saxena, the Governors of Punjab and Administra-tor of Chandigarh, Lieutenant Governors of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, Chief Ministers of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Pun-jab, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh attended the conference. The Minister of State for Home, Odisha also participated in the confer-ence. The Union Home Ministry, the Director General of NCB, and senior officials from various security agencies and related min-istries and departments of the Government of India also attended the conference. In the presence of the Union Home Minister, more than 1.40 Lakh kg of narcotics worth Rs 2,378 crore were destroyed in different parts of the country by Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in coordination with the Anti Narcotics Task Force (ANTF) of all states, which is a record for a single day. Union Home Minister said that a total of 1,250 cases were registered between 2006 and 2013, while 3,700 cases have been registered in the nine years from 2014 to 2023, which shows an increase of 200 per cent.

“A total of 1,360 arrests were made earlier, which has now gone up to 5,650, which shows an increase of 300 per cent. The quantity of drug seized was earlier 1.52 lakh kg, which has now increased by 160 per cent to 3.94 lakh kg,” said the Minister. He said that drugs worth Rs 5,900 crore were destroyed between 2006 and 2013, while drugs worth Rs 18,100 crore were seized and destroyed between 2014 and 2023, this shows the success of our campaign. (ANI)

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