Himachal Pradesh government is mulling to introduce new amendments in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS) to curb drug menace.
The decision was taken in the Cabinet meeting held here on Tuesday under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur.
A government spokesperson said while reviewing the steps being taken to control spread of drug menace in the state, the Cabinet was felt that necessary amendments can be made in NDPS Act to make the laws more stringent.
It was stressed that state level Special Task Force be formed to nab the drug peddlers throughout the state.
The Cabinet also directed the Home Department to hold regular coordination meetings at the Director General level with the neighbouring states.
Further, the police authorities were directed to conduct joint police operations with neighbouring states to check inter-State drug flow.
The spokesperson said the Cabinet directed for launching a special campaign to check drug menace by involving Education, Health, Police, Social Justice and Empowerment departments.
The campaign would also aim to ensure active participation of panchayats, mahila mandals, parents, school children and teachers etc.
He said the government authorities have been directed to promote alternative crops in the traditional cannabis growing areas so that people could be motivated to grow alternative crops.
The Cabinet was apprised that during the last six months poppy was destroyed from 1366 bighas as compared to only six bighas in 2017.
Apart from this, 831 drug offenders were arrested and cases were registered against them during the period.
The Cabinet decided to allot Dugar Hydro Electric Project with capacity of 449 MW in favour of NPHC limited on BOOT basis for a period of 70 years after completion of which the project will revert to the government with specified generation capacity, free of cost and free from all encumbrances.
In order to provide major succor to the farming community of the state, the Cabinet approved implementation of Mukhya Mantri Khet Sarankshan Yojna and Mukhya Green House Renovation Scheme.
Under the Mukhya Mantri Khet Sarankshan Yojna, 85 percent grant would be provided to group of three or more farmers and 80 percent grant to individual farmer for solar fencing in the fields to protect crops from wild animals.
Under Mukhya Mantri Green House Renovation Scheme 70 percent grant would be given to the farmers for replacing their damaged poly sheets of their poly houses, instead of the current 50 percent.
The Cabinet approved the procedure for implementation of GST for the running work contracts prior to 1 July 2017.
It also decided to introduce incentive clause in standard bidding document for the works having value of more than Rs 50 lakh for their early completion and to boost the morale of contractors.
It also decided to allow contractors for installation of crushers at their sites to convert the muck into useful material so that the same could be reused in construction works.