[ M Doley ]
It is said that sharing is caring. But what happens when a teacher does not hesitate to ask his pupil to share some tobacco when he falls short of the substance? This is what a district level education officer informed about recently. The newfound strange student-teacher equation should raise the eyebrows of every sane citizen.
Such acts on the part of teachers would steamroll the government order prohibiting the use and sale of tobacco and tobacco products within a radius of 100 yards of any educational institution.
The officer said he had received several complaints from parents and guardians that some of the teachers attended classes in shabby dresses, chewing betel nut, and did not even hesitate to ask for tobacco from the students.
More importantly, he had been informed that many teachers in the district are opium addicts and have been found neglecting their duties, which led to poor academic performance by the students.
In the past, there have been reports of drug peddling involving teachers and security personnel.
It seems that drug the silent killer is steadily spreading its ugly tentacles around one of the main pillars of education, which is a matter of grave concern.
Another serious issue right now is the involvement of minors in drug peddling.
To evade police arrest, drug traffickers have taken to adopting a new and imported tactic. They are engaging minors as their delivery boys. This astonishing fact was revealed when a minor in possession of drugs was caught by police in Pasighat a couple of weeks ago.
As per the police, the boy was reportedly engaged by a person (non-APST) based in Itanagar to deliver the drugs to a ‘customer’.
This is not only a clear case of child exploitation but also a serious issue with the potential to destroy the future of the state. Also, this may be a process of giving birth to a new generation of drug traffickers, because nobody can simply rule out that these delivery boys may themselves become involved in illicit drugs trade after a few years.
According to sources, there is an interstate drugs racket active in the state. They are doing their business under the very nose of the police.
The frequent seizure of various types of costly drugs, like brown sugar, along with opium and ganja, in large quantities by the state police speaks volumes about the flourishing drugs trade. This also indicates that there is a good number of users/buyers of such drugs in the state.
Since the issue of the drugs menace is well known to the authorities, the time has come to contain the menace in whatever way possible, and to deal with all those involved in the drugs trade with an iron hand.
