At the centre of campaigns against addiction, a drug death in Bhagat Singh’s Khatkar Kalan village
A Khatkar Kalan Panch said the efforts by the government have not prevented drug deaths because they are “nothing more than formalities”.
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The police claimed they did not have any information about the death of Navdeep Kumar due to addiction. (Express Photo)On Monday, Bhagat Singh’s native village Khatkar Kalan in Punjab’s Shaheed Bhagat Singh (SBS) Nagar district registered a drug death. Navdeep Kumar, who was in his early twenties, was found dead outside his home with a needle and syringe in his veins.
While Kumar’s father was an alcoholic and died due to the addiction, his mother works in Dubai to run the house. Kumar was unemployed and lived with his grandmother in their home in Khatkar Kalan. His elder sister is married.
Khatkar Kalan has always remained at the centre of the government’s drive against drugs. In 2018, former Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh had started an anti-drug drive from Khatkar Kalan. Incumbent CM Bhagwant Mann took the oath of office at Khatkar Kalan and promised to fight the drug menace.
In the last year, the SBS administration launched two campaigns against drug addiction from Khatkar Kalan. The district administration launched a campaign from Khatkar Kalan to make SBS Nagar drug-free on April 25, 2023.
On November 17, 2023, SBS Nagar’s civil and police administration joined hands for a special function at the Khatkar Kalan to make young students aware of drug addiction under the Drug-Free India Campaign. During the event, SSP Dr Akhil Chaudhary had claimed the police administration had taken strict action against drug smugglers and nearly 350 FIRs were registered, sending about 400 accused to jail.
The SBS Nagar district administration also hosted Miss India Navneet Kaur Dhillon at Khatkar Kalan to spread awareness against drug addiction on December 12, 2023.
Surinder Pal Mahe, local Panch, said, “All these efforts couldn’t stop a drug death in our village because such functions are nothing more than formalities. We have given in writing again and again that the village needs a sports stadium to channelise the energy of youth into sports. We have given representations to the State and Central Governments on various occasions that village youth are falling for drugs in the absence of any sports stadium. But the governments are happy with launching campaigns from Khatkar Kalan but are doing nothing on the ground”.
“Our village remains in the limelight due to Bhagat Singh. But this limelight has not done anything good to the village. Leaders come to the village, make speeches and leave. Our village is also in the grip of drug addiction. But there has been no special treatment to the village to fight this problem. We are just another village in Punjab as far as drug addiction is concerned. We are the worst in the way that our village doesn’t even have a sports stadium. But drugs are available in the village,” said villager Harminder Singh.
The police have arrested three drug smugglers from the village in the last three months. However, they claimed they did not have any information about the death of Navdeep Kumar due to addiction.
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