COVID-19 breaks narcotics supply chain in Punjab
The COVID-19 outbreak has delivered unexpected benefits to Punjab which has been battling the scourge of drug addiction for years together.
“The only good thing that has come out of COVID is that the drug supply line has broken. So we are happy,” Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said in an interaction with the media.
Singh has been at the forefront in the battle against drug addiction since he became chief minister in March 2017. He has set up a special task force against the drug menace with one thousand policemen headed by an Additional Director General of Police-rank officer.
“I have been informed that the supply line of the drugs has been broken. So heroin and all these things which were being smuggled are no longer happening,” Singh said.
The state’s border with Pakistan was the major transit route for drug trafficking into India and over the years, Punjab had emerged as a major consumer state, making drug abuse a political issue in the assembly elections in 2017.
Singh had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi last year to frame a national policy to check the drug menace.
Recently, the Centre had identified 272 districts across the country as hugely affected by the drug menace and was planning to implement an ‘addiction-free India’ initiative to address the issue.
According to the Narcotics Control Bureau, 18 out of Punjab’s 22 districts were in the grip of drug menace.