ITANAGAR, Dec 9: Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar has asked the law enforcing agencies of the state to initiate strong action against drug traffickers.
Addressing a meeting of the state-level multidisci-plinary coordination committee for control and coordination of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances here on Monday, Kumar asked the law enforcing agencies to “understand the magnitude of the menace of drugs in the state and
take steps to control, prevent, address and eradicate the menace from the state.”
IGPs Ravindra Singh Yadav and Sagar Preet Hooda, Narcotics Control Bureau Zonal Director Rakesh Chandra Shukla, Tax, Excise & Narcotics Secretary Anirudh S Singh, WCD Secretary Niharika Rai, deputy commissioners, superintendents of police, and government officers concerned were present at the meeting.
The CS directed the DCs and the SPs to “undertake robust measures to check and prevent the increasing drug menace in their respective districts in particular and the state in general.”
Kumar also called for carrying out intensive IEC campaigns in schools and colleges, involving NGOs, CBOs and other organizations, to sensitize the young generation to the ill-effects of drugs and their use.
He suggested to the tax, excise & narcotics department to tie up with mobile phone service providers and FM radio channels to broadcast messages in the local dialects about the ill-effects of drugs.
The CS further suggested initiating “no-drug campaigns” in the districts, “with a well-known cultural personality as their brand ambassador.”
He issued direction to conduct extensive surveys in the districts and to destroy illegal opium cultivation, “in presence of NCB representatives.”
The CS also directed the DCs and the SPs to constitute anti-drug squads in their districts at the earliest. (CS’ PR Cell)
