Puducherry, May 29 (IANS). Puducherry Chief Minister N. Rangasamy on Friday discussed measures to further intensify the anti-drug campaign with top Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) official R Sudhakar.
NCB (Southern Region) Deputy Director General (DDG) Sudhakar also discussed the plan to spread awareness against drug abuse with the Chief Minister.
Giving information about this meeting, Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) said on Thursday that DDG of NCB (Southern Region) met Puducherry Chief Minister N Rangasamy. The main focus of the discussion was to strengthen the Narco-Coordination Center mechanism, intensify the anti-drug campaign and implement targeted awareness programs for students across the Union Territory.
Earlier, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had said that the goal of a drug-free India can be achieved only by adopting a tough approach to break the drug supply chain, a strategic approach to demand reduction and a humanitarian approach to harm reduction.
Presiding over the NCORD meeting, Home Minister Amit Shah said that no leniency should be shown towards those who manufacture and sell drugs, but a humane approach should be adopted towards those who have started consuming drugs, this is the clear policy of the Central Government.
He said that we must move forward by strengthening command, compliance and accountability, it is not important how many meetings are held, but it is more important to review the results and assess the impact.
The Union Minister said that strict action taken against drug trade leaders, financiers and logistics routes should be the main focus of our review.
He told top NCB officials that our aim should be to increase the conviction rate by ensuring the use of forensic science laboratory and timely filing of charge sheets.
Suggesting new ways to defeat criminals, Union Minister Amit Shah said that the methods of drug distribution and payment have also changed, criminals are adopting new methods, hence we should also keep updating and adapting our strategies from time to time.
Highlighting the ongoing war on drugs under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Union Home Minister said that during 2004 to 2013, 26 lakh kilograms of drugs worth Rs 40,000 crore were seized, while from 2014 to 2025, 1 crore 11 lakh kilograms of drugs worth Rs 1.71 lakh crore have been seized. He said that our campaign against synthetic drugs has been very encouraging.
He said that we have also achieved an 11-fold increase in the quantity of drugs destroyed.
He said that in 2020, opium crops were destroyed on 10,770 acres of land, and by November 2025, crops on 40,000 acres of land have been destroyed.
–IANS
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