Driving Naari Programme launched in Chandigarh
Chandigarh, June 30: In a move to further strengthen his government’s crackdown on drugs, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has convened a meeting of his Cabinet on Monday morning to review the progress of the investigations and discuss ways and means of countering the menace.
According to an official spokesperson, the Chief Minister had called for the meeting to discuss the issue, particularly in the context of the recent spate of drug related deaths in the state.
Expressing concern over the spurt of such deaths and drug cases, the Chief Minister has also asked senior police officers to be present at the meeting, scheduled to be held in Chandigarh, said the spokesperson.
The officers are expected to brief the cabinet on the status of the ongoing investigations in various cases under the NDPS Act and the steps being taken to combat the menace.
Besides discussing the causes of the drugs menace, which remains a matter of concern despite the major strides made in tackling it, the meeting will take stock of the measures being taken to tackle the problem. The cabinet is expected to suggest the response mechanism to deal with the issue in a more aggressive way, said the spokesperson.
According to the spokesperson, the Chief Minister has expressed the desire for collaborative efforts by all government functionaries as well as the citizens of the state to completely wipe out the drug menace and make Punjab a drug-free state, as promised by him before the 2017 Assembly elections.
Though a lot of ground had been covered in countering the problem, more work was needed to be done to save the youth of Punjab from devastation and destruction at the hands of unscrupulous drug dealers and smugglers, the spokesperson said, quoting the Chief Minister.
Captain Amarinder Singh has repeatedly asserted his government’s zero tolerance to drugs and made it clear that no laxity or complicity of any official in the matter would be tolerated at any cost.
