Punjab recommends death penalty for drug peddling

Alive to the fatal consequences of drug trafficking and abuse in Punjab that snuffed nearly two dozen lives in the past month, the State Cabinet on Monday decided to recommend death penalty for drug peddling or smuggling to the Central Government.

In addition, a Cabinet sub-committee, headed by Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, has also been constituted to look into the aspect of drug rehabilitation. The sub-committee would meet once a week to take stock of the situation and review the progress of government’s anti-drug campaign.

Besides, the Congress-led State Government is also mulling to bring harsher steps against drug smugglers.

Punjab Cabinet would soon send a formal recommendation to the Central Government seeking death penalty for drug smugglers and peddlers. Reiterating its zero tolerance to drugs, the Cabinet submitted that the death penalty for drug smugglers and peddlers would act as a deterrent to the heinous crime which was destroying the lives of youth in Punjab and many other places.

The Cabinet has also decided to constitute a Special Working Group, under the chairmanship of Additional Chief Secretary (ACS), Home, NS Kalsi to review and monitor, on a day-to-day basis, the action being taken to check and control drug abuse.

Constituted to review and update the Government strategy against drugs, the Special Working Group will have ACS (Health) Satish Chandra, DGP (Intelligence) Dinkar Gupta, ADGP (Law and Order) Ishwar Singh and ADGP (STF) HS Sidhu as members.

The Special Working Group would report directly to the Cabinet sub-committee, which has the state Health and Family Welfare Minister Brahm Mohindra and Social Security Minister Aruna Chaudhary as its members.

At the onset of the meeting, all members of the Cabinet observed two-minute silence as a mark of respect to the Sikhs killed in the Afghanistan suicide attack, as well as for the youth who have died due to drug overdose and the farmers who have committed suicide in the state.

The formal meeting was preceded by informal discussions, during which senior Home Department and Punjab Police officers briefed the Cabinet members, who were also joined by the state Congress president Sunil Jakhar.

During the discussions, the Chief Minister ordered the state DGP Suresh Arora to intensify the police crackdown on the drug menace. He directed the DGP to go all out against drug smugglers and peddlers, making it clear that no complacency on the issue would be tolerated.

The Cabinet took stock of the cases of deaths resulting from drug overdose, which the Special Task Force (STF) chief HS Sidhu admitted to be a matter of concern, and suggested registration of all such cases to enable the identification and mitigation of risk factors, such as supply of spurious drugs and mixing of drugs with other death-causing substances.

Sidhu also called for thorough investigation of all such cases, while assuring the Chief Minister of his team’s concerted and enhanced efforts to fight the drug menace in a more aggressive manner. DAPOs should be trained to help the drug addicts cope with the social stigma, he added.

ACS Home Kalsi asked the DGP to review the drug scenario across the state with SSPs on a fortnightly basis. Delinquent SSPs found not performing up to the mark should be taken to task and adverse remarks should be penned in their ACRs, he suggested.

Citing data relating to arrests and seizures under the NDPS Act, DGP Arora pointed out that there had been a sharp increase in the figures since the Congress government took over. “Seizure of heroin had then gradually declined over a period of time, underling the effectiveness of the action undertaken by police, STF and various central agencies, along with additional BSF deployment and upgradation of surveillance technology and other infrastructure at the border,” he said.

“It was possible that the resultant shortage of drugs is forcing addicts to resort to consumption of adulterated drugs, which could be leading to deaths,” he said, adding that the cause of death in such cases would, however, be established by the report of the chemical examiner.

At the outset, Health Minister Brahm Mohindra informed the meeting that 81 Patient Opioid Assisted Treatment (OOAT) centres were currently functioning effectively in the state and so far, 8000 youth had been successfully treated at these centres.

He made it clear that the identities of the drug addicts and their parents were kept confidential to save them from the social stigma attached to drug abuse. The School Education secretary Krishan Kumar told the meeting about the steps taken to sensitize students, from Class VI onwards, about drugs and their ill-effects, with special chapters having been included in Physical Education text books.

Two dedicated teachers each had been deputed in High and Senior Secondary Schools to create awareness amongst the students about drug abuse and its adverse effects on the mental and physical health of youth, he revealed.