It’s 10 am, and the open fitness center within the village of Sultanpur in Haryana’s Raipur Rani, is filled with younger males understanding within the late morning solar. Train is an efficient option to hold the youth “away from the drug behavior and geared in direction of sports activities”, its sarpanch Naseem tells The Indian Specific whereas sitting exterior an area warehouse with different village elders.
The village of Sultanpur, which has a inhabitants of 1,200 individuals – largely Muslims and Gujjars — is one in all 3,114 that the Haryana State Narcotics Management Bureau has declared drug free. Based on authorities data, 42 p.c of Haryana’s 7,536 villages have been declared drug free within the final one yr – a feat that authorities and village residents attribute to mixture of strict policing and neighborhood outreach.
Moreover this, 695 municipal city wards too have been declared drug free.
“It’s because of the vigilance of the village elders, consciousness campaigns run by the state police pressure and literacy fee of the village (roughly 71 p.c) that contributed in direction of the village turning into fully drug free,” Naseem tells The Indian Specific. “We discourage individuals from conserving alcohol even at weddings.”
Based on the officers, the final two years have seen the police deal with seizing industrial portions of medication. Knowledge from a latest High quality Council of India (QCI) report commissioned by the Ministry of Dwelling Affairs (MHA) exhibits that Haryana recorded a 40 p.c improve in industrial amount narcotic seizures in 2024, as much as 411 from January to November 30 this yr in comparison with 295 over the identical interval final yr.
In the meantime, information from the Haryana State Narcotics Management Bureau (HSNCB) exhibits that the very best industrial amount seizures have come from Sirsa, Ambala, and Kurukshetra, adopted by Gurugram and Faridabad.
The High quality Council of India (QCI) report additionally highlighted Haryana’s success in monitoring and dismantling drug networks by way of 4 measures – crackdown on traffickers, discount in small-quantity instances, forensic fast-tracking and the Namak-Lota-Abhiyan.
Based on the report, this yr 63 repeat drug traffickers had been detained below The Prevention of Illicit Visitors in Narcotic Medicine and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1988. As well as, there had been a 15 p.c drop in small-quantity seizures – that’s, medicine beneath 5 grams which can be thought-about non-commercial portions.
Moreover, the police are encouraging offenders to voluntarily surrender medicine by way of the police’s Namak-Lota-Abhiyan or the salt-bowl pledge – a vow that offenders take earlier than their households and the village elders to surrender drug use. Moreover, the state’s forensic science laboratories at the moment are processing industrial amount instances inside 15 days, which has additionally helped in expedite trials, the report says.
Based on Panchkula’s Deputy Commissioner of Police Himadree Kaushik, the state took a two-pronged method – beginning village outreach and launching a crackdown on “the massive fish”.
“We elevated our deal with villages, organised a number of consciousness campaigns, took the addicts to rehabilitation centres and launched a crackdown on big-fish. The title of ‘drug free’ provides village residents a way of pleasure,” she mentioned.
To assist fight the drug downside, the HSNCB has organised sports activities in 2,080 villages this yr and noticed 2.22 lakh individuals. “As a part of the rehabilitation of drug-offenders, police have recognized 7,523 drug addicts and referred them to 99 deaddiction centres for remedy. To this point, over 4,188 people had been handled in authorities services whereas 2974 sought assist in personal rehabilitation centres,” a senior officer instructed The Indian Specific.
Based on ACP (Panchkula) Surender Singh, village elders are “the primary responders”.
“Their steady liaison and rapport with us assist us rapidly establish ‘the dangerous parts’, or those that are liable to stepping into the drugs-trade or habit, as a consequence of which we will get into motion rapidly and stop the menace from spreading,” he mentioned.
The programmes have additionally resulted in larger conviction fee: information exhibits that conviction below the Narcotic Medicine and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, has gone as much as 54 p.c from January to November in 2024 from 49 p.c over the identical interval in 2023.
Based on senior law enforcement officials, this conviction fee is “fairly spectacular, contemplating the sophisticated and meticulous investigation procedures which can be required to be adopted in NDPS Act instances”.
Senior officers declare that environment friendly judicial processes play a essential function within the combat in opposition to medicine. “Eight fast-track courts have been notified for NDPS instances, and their full operationalisation is predicted to considerably improve trial pace. This can construct on the progress already made, making certain swifter and simpler justice in drug-related instances. Additionally, not like different states, the place focus is on placing small-time drug customers behind the bars, Haryana Police’s focus is to catch the massive fish, break the availability chain and reform the addicts. It’s as a result of the addict will develop into a peddler, who will additional develop into an enormous fish. If they’re reformed on the preliminary stage, the possibilities of reformation are a lot larger,” Haryana State Narcotics Management Bureau (HSNCB) Director Common OP Singh mentioned.
Based on DGP Shatrujeet Kapur, the method is “past enforcement and is about empowering communities, participating our youth, and providing pathways to restoration for these affected”. “Our enforcement technique is targeted and relentless. By focusing on large-scale traffickers, detaining routine offenders below the PIT-NDPS Act, and leveraging fast-tracked forensic help, we’re dismantling drug networks at each stage. Haryana Police is dedicated to making sure that no drug trafficker operates with impunity in our state,” he mentioned.
Within the village of Mirzapur in Sirsa district, sarpanch Gurmel Singh believes the method has labored.
“Now, nearly all those that had earlier obtained into the medicine have reformed. Ladies are being made conscious of methods to hold their youngsters away from medicine. Youthful youngsters are taken in vans to close by sports activities stadiums in order that they’ll focus extra on bodily and psychological actions,” he mentioned.
Within the village of Rehna in Raipur Rani, village sarpanch Sehreena’s husband Kamil agrees. “Until a number of years in the past, we had been anxious because of the elevated affect of medication in our space, however at the moment we will proudly say that we’re fully drug free,” he mentioned.
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