Driving Naari Programme launched in Chandigarh
Chandigarh, Congress Deputy Leader in the Lok Sabha Capt Amarinder Singh today lashed out at the Bhartiya Janata Party for trying to play politics on the issue of drug pedalling and addiction in Punjab. He said, the party lacked any will to take any corrective measures which were well within its power and was resorting to politicking and game of one upmanship with its alliance partner, the Akali Dal, in Punjab..
Capt Amarinder said, the Akali Dal was equally responsible as it had been patronising the production and trade of the synthetic drugs in Punjab that was more dangerous and devastating. “While opium and poppy husk is coming from Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, the Akalis have ensured easy and smooth supply of synthetic drugs in Punjab that has caused havoc with our younger generation”, he said.
Reacting to the hype created by the BJP over its proposed campaign against drug addiction in Punjab, the former Chief Minister asked, “what has the BJP government at the centre done about the issue during last seven months?” He said, Punjab does not need any awareness campaign as people are very much aware as they have been suffering and paying a hard way for this scourge.
“What we need is proactive action which can be initiated by the government of India by formulating a National Drug Policy”, he reiterated, while reminding the Prime Minister Narendra Modi of the letter he had written to him in the month of June seeking national drug policy as the only viable and permanent solution to address the drug issue.
Capt Amarinder said, he had been calling for a national drug policy since the days when he was the Chief Minister between 2002 and 2007. He said, he had repeatedly been making this demand during the Chief Ministers’ conferences also some of which were attended by Mr Modi in his capacity as the then Chief Minister of Gujarat.
He said, besides the opium and heroin smuggled from across the border, opium was being legally produced in the states like Madhya Pradesh. He said, in Rajasthan it is legally traded and since Punjab is in the immediate neighbourhood it finds an easy market here. He pointed out, given the fact that there are BJP governments in both the states and at the centre this was the right time for evolving a consensus about formulating the National Drug Policy.
The former Chief Minister said, he had flagged the Prime Minister’s attention in June but regretted that no action has been taken till now. “I only got an acknowledgement of the letter and nothing else”, he disclosed, while hoping that this casual attitude does not persist for long.
Capt Amarinder suggested that the BJP president Amit Shah instead of staging a dharna and awareness programme on drugs in Punjab should prevail upon his governments at the centre and in the states of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan to ban the production and trading in opium and its by-products. “I know this is not the ultimate solution, but this can be the beginning in the right direction”, he remarked.
“We really do not need any awareness programmes about drugs in Punjab as we are pretty well aware about its devastating affects”, he told BJP while adding, “what we need is thorough corrective measures to stop the production and supply of drugs that is made easy as it is legal in states of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan”.
