Indian Express: Punjab: Monday,
June 13, 2016.
Punjab’s drug
problem is no secret. The malaise is so widespread that any government’s first
response should have been to take steps to choke the supplies, and second, to
implement health policies to address the high prevalence of addiction to a
range of narcotic substances. The Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party
government in the state did carry out a crackdown. But as a special investigation
by The Indian Express using 6,500 FIRs obtained under the RTI Act has
established, the exercise could not have been more flawed. There were few
arrests of suppliers at the top of the food chain. The focus was on addicts, or
small-time peddlers, found to be in possession of minuscule amounts of drugs.
Thousands were stuffed into overcrowded jails whose medical infrastructure was
so hopelessly ill-equipped to deal with the sudden influx of drug-dependent
inmates that 174 people died in jails through 2014 and 2015, at the shocking
rate of one every four days. Not just that, the jails are themselves retail
points for drugs, as seen from the rich hauls of narcotics and syringes during
periodic raids. Meanwhile, supplies of a range of drugs have continued to flood
the state from Pakistan, and other Indian states. While the Punjab government
is right to point to this, it is clear that without well-entrenched networks,
these supplies cannot continue to enter the state and get distributed with such
ease. So while Punjab demands that the Border Security Force do a better job
and asks other states to clean up their act, as a border state, it must
urgently take its own steps to address the situation.
It is
unfortunate that the SAD leadership chooses to deny the seriousness of the
problem, viewing any discussion on it as a political campaign against it by its
opponents ahead of the 2017 elections. The party has launched a
counter-campaign to “protect” the youth of Punjab from what is being described
as a conspiracy to defame them. This can only fuel the speculation that the
party has something to hide, whereas in fact, the Congress can hardly point a
finger at the present ruling combine, as it has to take equal responsibility
for letting the problem grow unchecked during its terms in power.
It is clear
from the staggering numbers of arrests nearly 30,000 in two years that drug
dependency is not isolated to a few pockets. Drugs are claiming a huge social
cost in Punjab, once counted among India’s most prosperous states. Not only has
the government not yet seriously attempted to assess the problem in its
entirety, as farming becomes less and less profitable, the absence of
initiatives to help youth in a largely agricultural state equip themselves with
education and non-farming skills is worsening the situation. It is still not
too late. The next government, regardless of the party in power, must give top
priority to the issue.
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