Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday called for cooperation between the Centre and the states to fight the drug menace.
He vowed to eradicate the drug menace from the nation and pledged that not a single kilogram of narcotics will either enter India or be smuggled out of the country.
He was addressing a regional conference on ‘Drug Trafficking and National Security’ aimed at addressing the growing concern of drug trafficking and its impact on national security, with the special focus on eight states and Union Territories of northern India, including Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Chandigarh, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand.
Mr Shah said the conference for the northern states is called to take stock of the situation of drug trafficking and national security.
For the last two years, he said it has been a routine that in the regional conference, “we review our fight against drugs,” discussions also take place and later the Home Ministry makes a new strategy on this basis and shares it with the states.
Noting that the country has made remarkable progress in its fight against drug abuse under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he emphasised that over the last decade, the efforts to curb drug trafficking and abuse have strengthened significantly, with data pointing to a clear trajectory of success.
“In the last 10 years, the fight against drugs has become very strong under the leadership of PM Modi,” he said, adding “if we look at the figures, we come to know that we are very close to success in the fight and moving in the right direction.”
Highlighting the substantial increase in drug seizures, he compared the figures from 2004-2014 and 2014-2024. “In the last 10 years, the fight against drugs has become very strong under the leadership of PM Modi. If we look at the figures, we come to know that we are very close to success in the fight and moving in the right direction. From 2004 to 2014, about 3 lakh 63 thousand kg of drugs were seized,” he added.
The conference was attended by the Governors, Lieutenant Governors, Chief Ministers and senior officers from eight participating states and UTs.