Jammu Tawi, Feb 06: Chief Secretary, Dr. Arun Kumar Mehta Monday chaired the 4th UT Level Apex Committee meeting of NCORD and held an in-depth review of all the ongoing activities happening across Jammu Kashmir to combat the drug menace here.
Addressing the officers, Mehta remarked that the victims of drug abuse deserve handholding and all possible assistance to live a normal life. He impressed upon the officers that without showing any laxity on the ongoing war on drugs, focus should also be laid on rehabilitation of its victims.
It was given in the meeting that in Kashmir Division, a total of 159 drug dealers have been booked under PITNDPS while in Jammu Division 43 drug dealers have been detained during 2022.
Similarly the meeting was informed that a total of 1850 FIRs have been registered while 2756 persons have been arrested for carrying out these illicit trade. Moreover during 2022, 240 kg Heroin, 498 kgs Charas, 249 Kg Ganja, and 178677 Caps/bottles/tabs of Scheduled drugs have been seized throughout J&K, as was revealed in this meeting.
Mehta exhorted upon the officers to involve PRIs as well as Anganwadi centres and schools for rehabilitation of drug abuse victims as well as for generating awareness among public particularly youth about the negative impact of drug abuse.
He impressed upon the Secretary Health to upscale the activities under Tele Manas helpline for counselling and proper rehabilitation of victims. He also directed the Health department to create awareness among public about the Tele Manas helpline number 14416 as well as establish a WhatsApp helpline under the same initiative.
Stressing on the need of proper vigil and surveillance to combat this menace, the Chief Secretary directed the Deputy Commissioners and SSPs to monitor the hotspot areas in their respective districts involved in trading of drugs and take required punitive actions on same. He asked them to monitor pharmacies and take action against those found involved in misuse of drugs which can be used as Psychotropic substances. He also asked them to take action against pharmacies found involved in selling of drugs without prescription from authorised medical practitioners.
While reviewing the measures of law enforcement agencies regarding combating this evil, Mehta exhorted the officers to analyse the data of districts regarding conviction rates under NDPS Act and act on the officers for non-performance during investigation of these cases.
During the meeting, the Chief Secretary also sought a briefing from all the Deputy Commissioners and SSPs regarding efforts being made for combating this menace across Jammu and Kashmir with direction for holding monthly meetings.
