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| CS for relentless, coordinated drive against drug menace | | | EARLY TIMES REPORT
Jammu, Apr 17- Calling for a relentless and coordinated campaign against drug abuse, the Chief Secretary S. S. Kapur today underlined the need for a survey to ascertain the extent of the problem and how to effectively tackle it.
While addressing the 5th meeting of State-Level Apex Committee (SLAC) for prevention of drug trafficking and its cultivation in the State, the Chief Secretary said that drug abuse is a serious problem eating up our youth and there was need to go whole hog against this menace. He, however, highlighted the need for carrying out a coordinated campaign to root out the menace.
Kapur said that a specific action plan had to be prepared to quantify the problem and to deal with it, adding that areas have to be identified where the cultivation of the crop is going on. He said departments of Excise, Narcotics Control Board, Police, Crime Branch, Revenue, Health, Social Welfare, Forest and Education would have to pool their efforts to get the desired results and rid the State of drug abuse scourge.
The Chief Secretary said a concerted drive against cannabis and poppy cultivation should be taken well in time to arrest the menace. He set the deadline for preparation of the action plan as May 2009. He also called for community-based initiative against drug abuse and said that NGOs must be involved in the efforts against this menace.
Describing awareness against drug abuse as an important aspect of meeting the challenge, Kapur said that educational institutions must be involved in the campaign to impress upon young children the gory impact of drug abuse. He also underscored the need for issuing warning to the cannabis and poppy cultivators that the government would deal with them sternly according to the law if they continue to cultivate the crop in their fields. He made it clear that the rogue elements have to be tackled firmly. He also asked the Revenue Department to impress upon the patwaris that they would not be spared for making incorrect entries about the crop cultivation. He said the Agriculture Department should build up campaign for the need to shift to alternate crops within the existing schemes, besides providing them other incentives.
The meeting decided that officials working in anti-drug campaign would be rewarded for excellent performance. The next meeting of the SLAC would be held in June during which the Action Plan would be discussed.
The meeting was attended by Principal Secretary, Agriculture Production Department, . Sonali Kumar, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, I. A. Khan, Commissioner/Secretary, Health and Medical Education, . Atal Dulloo, Commissioner/Secretary, Social Welfare Department, Pramod Jain, Divisional Commissioner, Jammu, Pawan Kotwal, Secretary, Rural Development Department, M. S. Khan, Director Information B. A. Bhat, IGP, Crime, S. M. Sahai, Additional Commissioner, Kashmir, Mohammad Amin, besides other senior officers.
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