Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Sangrur MP, Bhagwant Mann on Thursday lambasted SAD, president & Punjab deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal for distorting the recent study of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) to subvert the widespread menace of drugs in the state.Mann said instead of tackling the peril of extensive drug abuse in Punjab especially among the youth, Sukhbir juggled with the figures of the AIIMS study released in the month of January which clearly found that opioids and other synthetic derivatives worth Rs. 7,500 crore were being consumed in the state every year. And of the aforesaid drug consumption the share of heroin was pegged at massive Rs. 6,500 crore, AIIMS had pointed in the study, said Mann.Mann was referring to the claim made by Sukhbir yesterday in Jalandhar while
Interacting with the media that only 16,000 people of Punjab which constitutes just 0.06% were hooked on to the drugs and the problem was more severe in Mumbai and Delhi. Terming Sukhbir a compulsive liar Mann said either Sukhbir himself was ignorant of the massive drug problem or hoodwinking the people of Punjab.Sukhbir should not forget his alliance partner BJP's brand ambassador, Baba Ramdev, who had said in the month of May last year that 80% of youths in Punjab have fallen prey to the drug menace. Mann said the AIIMS study had also pointed that 2.3 lakh people in Punjab were opioid dependent and more than 8.6 lakhs were estimated to be opioid and users of synthetic drugs. And the heroin dependents were the highest with 1.24 Lakh people.“Does that constitute only 0.06% of the total population addicted to drugs? Sukhbir should first check his calculation and the facts as he claimed to have acquired a degree in MBA from a university in USA", quipped Mann.
Mann said instead of presenting manipulative figures before the media and the people of Punjab Sukhbir by now should have taken some concrete steps to tackle the drug problem in the state which unfortunately his government had failed to do during the last 9 years of tenure.Mann said people of Punjab could not be conned by Sukhbir's doctored figures and unlike Punjab Congress Chief Captain Amarinder Singh the AAP would not rest till the menace of drugs was eliminated from the state. ”Only Amarinder could compromise with Sukhbir and take a stand against his own congress party by not supporting the CBI probe against Punjab Revenue Minister Bikram Singh Majithia for his alleged role in drug trade in the state", said Mann.