Why Rajasthan is shuttering its opium husk shops

So is opium sold legally in Rajasthan?

Not opium, exactly. Doda is the leftover husk of the opium plant once the milk has been extracted. It is sold only to legal permit- or licence-holders.

How many licence-holders are there in Rajasthan?

19,000 — they are eligible to get a limited quantity of doda from these licensed thekas. Most licence-holders live in the desert districts of western Rajasthan — Jaisalmer, Barmer and Jodhpur. A much larger number obtains the substance illegally.

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Is the consumption of doda a big deal in the state?

Addiction, especially among the elderly population, is a major social problem in this part of the state — even though it has traditionally been accepted in society in the same way as the addiction to tobacco. During the campaign for the last Lok Sabha election in 2014, Col. Sonaram Chaudhary, the BJP candidate for Barmer, urged Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje to increase the licensed quantity of doda — despite doda being a bad habit, Col. Sonaram said, some old men needed it, and the daily quota they were getting wasn’t quite enough.

Why then has the government decided to shut the thekas?

It was the judiciary. In July last year, Rajasthan High Court ordered the cancellation of all doda post permits and closure of the vends. Keeping hardcore addicts in mind, it directed the government to make the substance available only against a doctor’s prescription. Vendors appealed to the Supreme Court, and obtained a stay saying they had deposited the fees for the entire year. The decision to close the vends was then deferred to March 31, 2016.

Since then, the government has been setting up de-addiction camps under its rehabilitation scheme, Naya Savera. The excise department, in collaboration with the health department, has set up 212 de-addiction centres so far.

Where is opium cultivated in India?

Cultivation of the opium poppy is illegal under Section 8 of the NDPS Act, 1985. However, Rule 8 of the NDPS Rules, 1985, allows cultivation against a licence issued by the Central Bureau of Narcotics. Licit cultivation of opium is allowed in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh — but only in certain pockets that are notified annually by the central government. The last such notification issued by the Ministry of Finance on October 8, 2014, notified three districts in Madhya Pradesh, seven in Rajasthan, and six in Uttar Pradesh.

Poppy cultivation is governed not only by the NDPS Act, but also by the UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, 1961, to which India is a party. In fact, India is the only country authorised to produce gum opium. Eleven other countries — Australia, Austria, France, China, Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey and the Czech Republic — are allowed poppy cultivation, but they process the bulb and stalk together, without extracting gum.