Fixing Himachal’s fight against drugs

IN a strong statement of intent to curb drug trafficking in Himachal Pradesh, the state police have booked more than 250 persons in just a month for peddling drugs. In all, 183 first information reports (FIRs) were filed against these individuals under various sections of law.

Fourteen cases were registered for possessing commercial quantities, 85 for intermediate and 58 for small amounts. Nearly two dozen cases pertained to the cultivation of drugs. In a welcome development, the state police have initiated action under the PITNDPS Act with 21 preventive proposals. The state police have also been successful in obtaining half a dozen orders from the competent authority.

For almost three decades, the menace of drugs has posed a stiff challenge to the law enforcement agencies. The trafficking has also transformed from a cannabis-centric trade to the peddling of easy-to-hide-and-carry synthetic and high-value drugs. Taking advantage of the far-flung and inaccessible terrain in the state, hardened criminals indulge even in the illegal cultivation of opium.

The 2019 National Substance Abuse Survey did not ring any serious alarm bells for Himachal Pradesh. However, much water has flowed since then. There is an urgent need for a state-level sample survey to assess the credible extent of the problem. According to the available data on the police website, the year 2023 saw a significant 41 per cent increase in NDPS Act cases.

What should be worrisome for the state is that more than 90 per cent of the persons arrested for drugs fall in the age group of 18-45 years. Nearly 1,300 youth accused of drug-related cases are in the state’s prisons at any time. No district in the state is untouched by the scourge of drugs. Shimla, Kullu and Mandi report the maximum cases under this category.

The prisons in the state are teeming with convicts and undertrial prisoners involved in NDPS cases. Approximately 40 per cent of the male inmates, whether convicts or undertrials, are those involved in drug-related cases. The figure for women inmates is pegged at around 30 per cent. Peddlers of small quantities of drugs are often substance users also.

Nearly 10 per cent inmates need de-addiction and rehabilitation programmes. Their place for detention should not be prisons but rehabilitation centres. In the absence of any such protocol of rehabilitation for the accused persons, the medical officers posted in the correctional facilities have acquired proficiency in the treatment of drug addicts. The efforts of the Corrections Department in the state to avail itself of a central scheme to start a rehab centre in a central prison was rejected by a babu in the state government! The state government should notify all correctional facilities where a dedicated medical officer is posted at a Drug Rehab Centre.

The state’s response to the drug menace has been fitful at best as it has failed to consider the full range of related issues.

First, the Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF) was established under the state CID. Thereafter, a state legislation was passed and a Special Task Force (STF) created without abolishing the ANTF. The STF, headed by an officer of the ADG level, is virtually toothless, lacking any staff. It is a classic case of putting the cart before the horse. Today, these two agencies are struggling for clarity of their roles and jurisdictions.

Three police stations at the police range level exist to coordinate intelligence, registration and investigation of NDPS cases. This system has worked well. It needs to be strengthened with a transparent chain of command and accountability. Creating additional layers of supervision and competing jurisdictions will only obfuscate the state’s effort.

It is also learnt that the state has created a committee populated by retired bureaucrats to provide policy guidelines to the state on drugs! The Chief Minister, who oversees the Home Department, may disband this crony club and utilise the funds saved from their salaries to conduct a comprehensive survey, thereby understanding the problem in its entirety. The state has sufficient talent among its serving officers to handle the matter.

Creating awareness about the adverse effects of substance abuse is a specialised job. Addressing school and college children is one thing, but sustaining the campaigns by identifying the substance users and counselling them is another. It would be incorrect to assign the state police this task without creating the necessary human resources for this purpose.

Appropriate training in counselling the youth is required. The state’s Social Welfare Department should work closely with the police to achieve the desired results.

Families of drug users are typically in denial of their ward’s problem. Family can play a crucial role in identifying, counselling, providing emotional support and reporting to the law enforcement agencies and non-profit organisations to wean the youth away from the drugs.

Panchayats work closely with people at the ground level. Their information base is far superior to any outside agency. This capital should be utilised in preparing a rudimentary data to design a strategy.

Financial investigation in NDPS cases in the state is minuscule. The state police must cast their net wider and pursue organised cartels relentlessly. The campaign against drugs must not be a month-long affair. Devbhumi Himachal requires sustained intelligence collection, surveillance, enforcement and speedy trials to make a palpable dent in the prevailing situation.

Awareness among the youth, parents, teachers and the broader community is needed. The narrative has to shift from stigma to empathy. Association with reputable non-profit organisations having domain expertise in the field may also yield dividends.

Somesh Goyal is former DGP, Himachal Pradesh.

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