Making a strong call for united call against drugs, the Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday said the Centre is "relooking" at the NDPS Act to plug loopholes exploited by narco syndicates and underlined the need for a ruthless approach towards drug peddlers and suppliers. He said that the drug menace threatens national security, social stability, economic interests, and the future of the country’s youth.
Addressing the 10th apex-level meeting of the Narco-Coordination Centre (NCORD) on Friday, Shah asked the states to share their suggestions with the Centre on amending the law.The Home minister also spoke about the success achieved by agencies in tackling the drug menace in the country.
"During 2004 to 2014, 26 lakh kilograms of synthetic drugs were seized. In contrast, from 2014 to 2026, we seized 1.18 crore kilograms of synthetic drugs. This shows that our campaign is steadily progressing towards success," he said.Shah said the value of the drugs seized between 2004 and 2014 was approximately Rs 40,000 crore, whereas the value of the drugs seized between 2014 and 2026 was approximately Rs 1.84 lakh crore.
This reflects the remarkable increase in the effectiveness and scope of the government's actions, he said.Shah said the Union Ministry of Finance is "relooking" at the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act to strengthen it and asked states to share their suggestions.He said the directors general of police can send their suggestions to the Ministry of Home Affairs and the chief secretaries to the Department of Revenue under the Ministry of Finance.During the event, Shah unveiled a three-pronged approach against drug trafficking -- detect, disrupt and destroy.
He said a ruthless approach should be adopted against traffickers and operatives and a sympathetic approach towards the victims.The minister called for an approach based on four pillars of enforcement, intelligence collection and dissemination and operations; control against precursors and synthetic drugs; demand reduction and awareness among people; and capacity building, coordination and monitoring by the anti-narcotics agencies.Shah asked the state governments to ensure real-time information sharing under all circumstances.
He urged all chief secretaries and police chiefs to move towards making NCORD meetings result-oriented."The number of meetings is certainly increasing, but it is also essential that they are result-oriented. Shah said the country stands at such a delicate juncture in the battle against narcotics that the coming three years will determine "whether addiction conquers us or we conquer addiction". The NCORD meeting brought together key stakeholders from 44 central ministries and departments, along with representatives from state governments and drug law enforcement agencies in hybrid mode.
Shah also released a vision document on narcotics control for three years (2026-2029) prepared through wide-ranging consultations with central government departments, drug law enforcement agencies and other stakeholders.The document will provide a shared road map for addressing the "demand-reduction, supply-reduction and harm-reduction" aspects of the drug menace. He e-inaugurated the Drug Disposal Fortnight Campaign, under which approximately 2,09,500 kg of drugs worth Rs 6,000 crore will be destroyed across India by various central and state law enforcement agencies
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