Synthetic drugs now coming to fore in India: Amit Shah
New Delhi, July 18: Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Amit Shah Thursday said that the problem of synthetic drugs was now coming to the fore in India and recently many illegal laboratories had been caught.
Chairing the 7th Apex Level Meeting of Narco-Coordination Center (NCORD) in Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi, he said that all the state investigation and other agencies should take detailed information about this from the NCB and work to stop such activities in their respective states.
The Home Minister also launched the National Narcotics Helpline ‘MANAS’ (Madak Padarth Nishedh Asuchna Kendra) and virtually inaugurated the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Zonal Office at Srinagar.
He also released NCB's Annual Report 2023 and Compendium on ‘Nasha Mukt Bharat’.
Shah said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the fight against drugs was being carried out in a very serious manner and they had been successful in taking it forward as a campaign. “The real fight has begun now because now we are at a crucial juncture in this fight,” he said.
The Home Minister said that unless every citizen of the country below the age of 35 does not pledge to fight this battle and every citizen above the age of 35 does not pledge to guide them, we cannot win this battle.
He said that even the governments cannot win this battle, rather there should be an approach to take this battle to the 130-crore people of the country.
Shah said that PM Modi had set a target to make India first in every field by 2047, which is possible only by keeping the younger generation away from the scourge of drugs.
He said that this fight against drugs was very important and it needs to be fought with seriousness and priority.
“If we do not give top priority to this fight, we will not be able to win it,” the Home Minister said.
He said that PM Modi's vision of a drug-free India is a huge challenge and a resolution.
“We have now become aware and at this critical juncture if we fight together bravely, then we can win this fight,” Shah said.
He said that in the last 5 years, PM Modi’s government had tried to fight this battle based on a ‘whole of government approach’ and on the three pillars – structural, institutional, and informational reforms.
The Home Minister said that from the year 2004 to 2023, 1,52,000 kg of drugs worth Rs 5933 crore were seized, while in the 10 years from 2014 to 2024, this quantity increased to 5,43,000 kg, which is worth more than Rs 22,000 crore.
He said that due to the efforts of PM Modi’s government, many drug networks had been successfully dismantled.
Shah said that the biggest disadvantage of drugs was that they destroy future generations and the addicts make their entire family suffer from extreme despair and inferiority complex.
He said that a new danger had emerged now that this entire business was getting linked with narco terror and the money coming from drugs was emerging as the most serious threat to the security of the country.
The Home Minister said that due to the drug trade, other channels of economic transactions meant to weaken the economy had also been strengthened.
“Many such organisations have been formed which are getting involved not only in the drug trade but also in illegal hawala dealings and tax evasion,” he said. “Drug smuggling has now become a multi-layered crime which we need to deal with robustly and stringently.”
Shah said that all agencies, especially the State Police, not only should aim to catch those who use drugs but also to catch those involved in its trade and dismantle the entire network.
He said that for this, there was a need to emphasise on ‘top to bottom’ and ‘bottom to top’ probe.
The Home Minister said that if a stock of drugs was caught on the country's border, there was a need to investigate it and dismantle the entire network behind it.
He said that Gujarat had done a very good job of investigating many big drug cases with a ‘top to bottom’ and ‘bottom to top’ approach.
“Our goal should be that neither will we allow even a single gram of drugs to enter India from anywhere nor will we allow India's borders to be used in any way for drug trade,” Shah said.
He said that drugs should be taken seriously wherever they come from or wherever they go and unless the whole world fights together, we cannot win this battle.
The Home Minister said that he had put a lot of emphasis on the implementation of NCORD since 2014 and it helped in providing encouraging results.
He said that unless the district-level NCORD works, these battles would not be fought successfully.
Shah emphasised that the district-level NCORDs should not only be a forum for discussion but also decision and review.
He said the district should set its own goals and review them.
The Home Minister said that NCORD meetings should be outcome-based and result-oriented.
He said that setting a fixed target, reviewing it, and strategising according to the local situation should be an important part of it.
Shah also asked all agencies to increase the use of PITNDPS.
He said that earlier the motto of the agencies was ‘need to know’, but now there was a need to move towards ‘duty to share’ and this major change would have to be adopted by all agencies.
The Home Minister said that there should be a ruthless approach towards the supply of drugs, a strategic approach towards demand reduction, and a humane approach towards harm reduction.
He said that all three were different but unless they did this they would not be successful.
Shah said that today the MANAS portal had also been launched and along with it many other initiatives had also been taken which would have to reach every unit of the states and districts.
He said that states should spend a part of their budget on narcotics forensics.
The Home Minister said, soon, the government was going to provide kits for primary testing of narcotics at a cheaper rate, which would make filing of cases much easier.
He said that the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment had taken up the Nasha Mukt Bharat campaign well and that all religious, youth, and Rotary organisations should join it.
“We have a long way to go in this fight against drugs and now we have to increase its speed and scope,” Shah said.
“We should leave no stone unturned to increase the speed and to increase the comprehensiveness, we have to take many colleagues along,” he said.
The Home Minister said that the zonal office at Srinagar in J&K will focus towards curbing drug trafficking through the northwestern border of India.
The NCB now had 30 zonal offices and seven regional offices.
The Annual Report-2023 of NCB highlights the efforts and accomplishments of NCB and all other agencies in its ongoing war against drug trafficking and drug abuse.
It contains the data for seizures done by all agencies in recent years, the latest trends on drug trafficking, action under the Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (PITNDPS), and financial investigation including action under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The Madak Padarth Nishedh Asuchna Kendra (MANAS) will have a toll-free number 1933, a web portal, a mobile App and Umang App so that citizens can connect with NCB round-the-clock with anonymity to share information on drug peddling and trafficking or consult related to their issues like drug abuse, de-addiction and rehabilitation.
Illicit cultivation is one big menace to be tackled, and, NCB along with BISAG-N has developed a web portal and mobile app ‘MAPDRUGS’ to curb illegal cultivation and provide accurate GIS information so that such illicit cultivation can be destroyed by the concerned agencies.
All stakeholders - all ministries, departments, State government and heads of all agencies, working towards Nasha Mukt Bharat attended the meeting.
Senior central government functionaries including the Union Home Secretary, Revenue Secretary, Secretary Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MoSJ&E), Director of the Intelligence Bureau and Director General of NCB, participated in the meeting.
Chief Secretaries, DGPs, and Anti-Narcotics Task Force Heads of all states and union territories participated in the meeting virtually.
Senior representatives of NCB, DRI, ED, BSF, SSB, CRPF, CISF, RPF, Indian Navy, Indian Coast Guard, and MoSJ&E also attended the meeting.
