Punjab government has lashed out at the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) for playing dirty politics over a grave issue like the drugs menace, accusing the erstwhile ruling party of misleading the people by spreading false and unsubstantiated information on the matter. Citing official data, an official spokesperson said that contrary to what the SAD is claiming, the Captain Amarinder government, in just 45 days of assuming charge, has not only broken the backbone of the drugs mafia in the state but has been successful in creating the enabling environment needed to bring drug addicts back into the mainstream of the society.As per available official data, the government drug de-addiction centres had seen a whopping increase in OPD visits and indoor patients, over the average monthly figures of 2016, after the installation of the new government, according to the spokesperson. The spokesperson cited data to point out that with 18,440 OPD visits from March 16 to April 26, 2017, the increase over the average monthly OPD of 2016 stood at 48.1%, while the indoor patients in the same period had increased 103% to 1446 across the state. Pointing out that these were figures for just the government centres, the spokesperson said there were huge numbers also being reported from the private centres and hospitals, endorsing the massive success of the Captain Amarinder government’s concerted crackdown on the drugs mafia in the state.
The proactive resolve of the government, said the spokesperson, had seen a massive increase in drugs-related cases, arrests and seizures in the last two weeks of April. While recovery of poppy husk had almost tripled, that of opium was more than double, of powder almost more than double and ganja almost double. Similarly, the recovery of the medicinal drugs had tripled in this period, as per official data. The spokesperson pointed out that with drug supplies getting chocked, prices of whatever little was available in the market had shot through the roof, putting it out of the reach of the people. The total FIRs registered under NDPS Act in this period stood at 797, with 920 arrests. The drug-wise seizures were Heroin – 2.926 kg, Smack – 3482 kg, Opium – 50.792 kg, Poppy husk – 2212.274 kg, Powder- 26.174 kg, Ganja – 86.382 kg, Charas – 10.870 kg, Sulfa – 0.800 kg, No. of capsules – 38305, No.of tablets – 439063 and No.of injections – 5140.Referring to the official data for de-addiction centres, the spokesperson revealed that the OPD and Indoor figures for Model De-addiction Centre GMC-Amritsar stood at 457 and 198, DH-Barnala (550 and 72), Model De-addiction Centre Bathinda (1618 & 97), Model De-addiction Centre GGMC Faridkot (459 & 33), DH-Fatehgarh Sahib (337 and 46), DH-Fazilka (1109 and 19), SDH-Abohar (1696, 28), DH-Ferozepur (304, 54), DH-Gurdaspur (603, 39) and SDH-Batala (225, 25).
The data for other centres is as follows: DH-Hoshiarpur (110, 31), SDH-Dasuha (705, 42), Model De-addiction Centre Jalandhar (380, 113), CHC-Noor Mahal (171, 24), DH-Kapurthala (448, 97), SDH-Phagwara (656, 64), DH-Ludhiana (2104, 39), SDH-Samrala (396, 37), SDH-Jagroan (427, 48), PHC-Khiala Kalan(715, 56), SDH-Malout (713, 51), SDH-Badal (206, 01), SDH-Rajpura (846, 18), Model De-addiction Centre GMC Patiala (465, 40) and DH-Roopnagar (158, 12).For DH-Sangrur, the numbers are 563 and 33, for DH-SAS Nagar (445, 42), SDH-Balachaur (98, 0), DH-Tarn Taran (927, 45) and DH-Pathankot (549, 43).Dismissing as ludicrous the SAD demand for the government to release data on the number of addicts actually weaned away from drugs, the spokesperson said this completely exposed their lack of understanding and sensitivity about the drugs menace and the physical, mental and emotional impact it had on the youth addicted to drugs. If they had any understanding of the problem they would have realized that de-addiction requires medical and psychiatric treatment which may span months, he pointed out.The problems caused by drugs, which the SAD government had connived with drugs dealers to spread to rampant and dangerous levels during its tenure, are not easy to tackle and require major medical attention and support, which the Captain Amarinder government was taking all steps to provide to the victims of drug abuse, said spokesperson. The damage it causes to the psyche of those affected is immeasurable, which the SAD leadership cannot possibly be expected to empathise with, given their total apathy to the problems of the people of Punjab, he added, lambasting the SAD for its malicious allegations against the government.