New Delhi: The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is all set to strengthen the law enforcement agency, especially the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) following the fact that the illicit business of drugs has been mushrooming alarmingly across the country. A senior official in the Home Ministry told ETV Bharat on Wednesday that the ministry has approved a proposal in-principle, to enhance the number of posts by around 1800, which is in addition to the 1100 posts which have already been sanctioned.
Accordingly, more zones and more offices will be opened at the regional level. "The NCB is also coordinating at the highest level from the apex committee which is chaired by the Home Secretary himself along with the State governments and the district levels," the official said.
Significantly, a Parliamentary Committee on Home Affairs in a recent meeting held last month discussed that law enforcement agency should test the drugs on the spot at the time of the seizure. The committee opined that it helps the agencies in the collection of evidence and investigation before the report comes from the forensic labs about the seized drugs.
The home ministry officials informed that a supply order for drug detection kits amounting to Rs 1.73 crore has been issued, which will go to the States and other stakeholders in NCB.
In the meeting that took place in New Delhi, the Parliamentary Committee was informed by the MHA representatives that multiple ministries and departments are reviewing the provisions of the NDPS Act, 1985 and efforts are being made to strengthen the de-addiction infrastructure, increase awareness campaigns, etc to tackle the drug menace in the country.
The committee observes that the trafficking and consumption of narcotics substances have been increasing in recent years. The committee opines that along with arresting people for drug consumption, it is important to break the supply chain network of drugs. The MHA has been suggested by the committee to issue advisory to States and UTs to create an institutional mechanism along with their concerned ministries, departments, and organizations to monitor the prevalence of drug abuse, hold awareness campaigns and rehabilitate drug addicts.
As per government statistics in possession of ETV Bharat, a total of 37984 kg of Ganja has been seized from across India in December 2021 where Andhra Pradesh top the list with 13290 kg followed by Odisha with 8400 kg, Chhattisgarh with 4711 kg. Similarly, 4.73 kg of heroin was seized from J&K, followed by Haryana 4.34 kg and Manipur 4.32 kg. During the same period in December last year, as many as 2078 cases have been registered across the country where 2736 people were also arrested.
The maximum number of people was 427 arrested in Madhya Pradesh, followed by 404 arrests in Goa, and Andhra Pradesh 392 during the same period. In the month of November 2021, a total of 37685 Ganja have been seized from across India where Andhra Pradesh tops the list with 13176 kg, followed by 8653 kg in Odisha and 6233 kg in Telangana.
As many as 2880 people were also arrested in November last year for their involvement in the illegal drugs business where the maximum number of people 470 were arrested in Telangana, 409 in Andhra Pradesh, and 288 in Rajasthan.
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