Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur today released Hindi translation of two Research Publications of the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime (UNODC), viz. Global Synthetic Drugs Report 2020 and Regional Overview: Asia and Oceania 2020 under its Global Project, GLO SMART. The Global SMART (Synthetics Monitoring: Analyzes, Reporting and Trends) Program which improves the capacity of targeted Member States to generate, manage, analyze, report and use information on illicit synthetic drugs. The South Asia component of the Program was started last year. Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister lauded the support extended by the UNODC in helping the law enforcement agencies of the State to fight the rising menace of drugs. He said that the State has constituted a Nasha Nivaran Board under his Chairmanship and the State has formulated a drug policy, which would be released soon. He said that the State Government was committed to completely eradicate drug trafficking and looks forward for UNODC's support and partnership in this regard.
Jai Ram Thakur said that excellent knowledge base shared by UNODC was commendable and its efforts in training the law enforcement agencies and forensic labs were very valuable. He added that it was the earnest duty of every citizen, particularly the young generation, to build a society that is drug free. Global Head of the SMART Program, UNODC Martin Ralthelhuber, who joined online from Vienna, briefly explained the various components of the SMART Program. He stated that these two reports were the first ever Hindi translation of the reports of the SMART done at the behest of the Himachal Pradesh Nasha Nivaran Board to enable a wider reach in the State. He assured the Chief Minister of UNODC's continued support in its fight against drugs. Law Enforcement Expert from UNODC's Regional Office for South Asia Jayant Misra gave a short account of the training programs that the Office had conducted during the past one year. Convenor Himachal Pradesh Nasha Nivaran Board Om Prakash Sharma, in his closing remarks thanked UNODC for training the officers of the law enforcement agencies.Additional Chief Secretary, State Taxes & Excise Jagdish Chander Sharma and Commissioner of State Taxes & Excise - cum - Member Secretary of HP Nasha Nivaran Board Yunus were also present on the occasion.