Himachal polls 2022: Across parties, a reality check; Need to tackle Himachal drug menace

Addressing a rally at Chamba recently, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the BJP “will make the state drug-free” if voted back to power, adding that the party “will destroy the drug economy in the state and give the Himachali youth a foray into new opportunities”.

On Friday, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra vowed to fight the drug menace which, she said, was ruining the future of Himachal’s youth.

While NDPS records have been showing increasing drug spread in Himachal, it has never been a poll issue of this scale – unlike in Punjab, for example. In the 2017 poll campaign, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had aggressively taken up the issue. This was the time the Congress was attacking the then Akali-BJP ruled Punjab of being hand-in-glove with the drug racket in the state.

But the Himachal Congress government at the time had dismissed these charges, saying the BJP was making these claims as it had nothing else it could attack the party on.

Now, there is a growing realisation of a crisis. In July this year, announcing the launch of a special anti-drug task force, incumbent Himachal Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur said: “The use of drugs has increased and every day we hear more and more incidents of drug abuse. In this context, the government has decided to launch a task force under police control which also uses society as a stakeholder to combat it.”

The task force was meant to implement the state’s “integrated drug policy” and the Centre’s Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyan campaign. There were other proposals announced to tighten drug control measures, including adding more police personnel. There is also a State Fund for the Control of Drug Abuse, while months ahead of the state polls, the government launched a Drug Prevention Helpline.

Earlier, in 2020, the state government had constituted a board to undertake awareness campaigns and supervise implementation of counter measures against the drug menace.

Claiming that these measures are far from enough, the Congress on October 31 promised its own version of a drug task force. Alleging that 25 to 27 percent of youth below 40 years of age in Himachal take drugs, the party said it would form an Anti-Drug Abuse Enforcement Authority to combat the issue. A sitting High court judge or a Lokayukta will preside over the body, it said.

“Drug addiction has reached every village in Himachal. It is ruining the young generation. The Congress made a big announcement to make Himachal a drug-free state and an independent authority will be a crucial component of the same, unlike other forces that are headed by police officials. The schemes of the present government have done nothing to tackle the issue,” says Gokul Butel, an AICC joint secretary.

Accusing governments of not being interested in tackling the issue, Pankaj Dhanta, a resident of Kasumpti in the Shimla district, says: “Drugs are easily available in the market. The access to young people is especially a lot more. From chitta to hash, there is no dearth of supply. It is an open secret that drugs easily come from other states and the locals are involved in distribution.”

As per the NCRB report, in 2021, Himachal Police seized more than 800 kg of marijuana, 40 kg of opium, 1,903 kg poppy husk, 14 kg heroin, as well as more than 13,000 capsules and above 30 lakh tablets in the synthetic drugs category.

The report also showed that the state stood second on crimes under the NDPS Act. Last year, the police arrested 1,089 people for possession of drugs, the second highest in the country. A total of 1,537 NDPS Act cases were reported in 2021, with 2,223 arrests being carried out. In 2020, the state had registered almost the same number of cases – 1,538.

With Punjab next door clocking the highest crime rate under the NDPS Act, curbing the same in Himachal remains a challenge. The police claim “effective trial management”, saying this has helped keep criminals off the streets and restrict supply.

“Our approach in terms of curbing drug menace is to catch the big fish and then investigate backward, forward linkages. There is also financial investigation and seizure of dubious wealth. We ensure that all police personnel and private witnesses depose, which speeds up trial and conviction,” says DGP Sanjay Kundu.

The police claim that the number of those in prison as undertrials or convicts in drug cases has gone up by 46 % since January this year.

Now, all eyes are on the party manifestos, where both the BJP and Congress are expected to include fighting drugs as a poll promise.

Rajeev Bharadwaj, the co-in charge of Kangra constituency for the BJP, says the incumbent government was best suited to tackle the issue. “The approach of our government to drug addiction has not just been institutional, but social. We have involved NGOs and other social institutions to raise awareness. The party is on the right path and once voted back to power, there will be even more robust methods to make the state drug-free.”