NCORD is a knowledge-based portal that can also be used by the common people. (File)In the recent meeting organised by the Narcotics Control Bureau (Western region) the agency’s Director General (DG) SN Pradhan outlined 10 measures to be followed by its officials to make its functioning more effective.
An official said at the meeting held on October 26 was headed by Union Home Minister Amit Shah and was attended by various CMs. Priority was given to coordination within the agency and with other state agencies acting against narcotics.
Sources said that the Union Home Ministry has given priority to NCB and provided them with resources after instances of narco-terrorism are on the rise where terror organisations are using money from narcotics to carry out their activities.
“It is increasingly being seen those terror organisations either work on the funds acquired through the narcotics business or actively use narcotics like tramadol to reduce pain. Looking at the current trend, the anti-narcotic
agencies have been asked to ensure that India does not become a hub of drug trafficking,” an official added.
“It was emphasised that all officials utilise portals like National Narcotics Coordination Portal (NCORD) and National Integrated Database on Arrested Narco-offenders (NIDAAN) that were started recently to gain from the collective pool of knowledge accumulated by the agency,” said an official, who attended the meeting.
NCORD is a knowledge-based portal that can also be used by the common people. It has court judgements related to narcotics cases, news and the measures being taken by the agency in terms of capacity building. NIDAAN portal has a database of offenders, which will be maintained by all the agencies.
To ensure that the NCB has good coordination with state narcotic agencies, a one-point contact in the form of an Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF) Secretariat was established. So, if NCB Mumbai needs information on a drug raid done by Pune (rural) police or Gadchiroli, they would not need to individually contact them.
“In Maharashtra, the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) has been established as the ANTF contact so we just need to contact them for information on any action by the Maharashtra police,” the official said.