Punjab News: Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann on Tuesday held a high-level review meeting of the 'War on Drugs' campaign. During this, he said that the campaign has now reached its final stage and there is a need to intensify decisive action to completely eliminate the drug problem from Punjab. The Chief Minister directed the police and civil administration to take strict action at the ground level against drug sellers, suppliers and smugglers with the cooperation of the people.
VDC participation increased
In the meeting, the Chief Minister interacted with Deputy Commissioners, SSPs, Police Commissioners and IGP/DIGs of all the districts through video conferencing. He reviewed the progress of the campaign, action against smugglers, role of Village Defense Committees (VDC) and action taken on complaints received from people.
According to the Chief Minister, at present in Punjab 14,846 volt are active, including 74,230 members are connected. in border areas 3,808 Vdc close to 36,814 members Are working. He said that with the help of these committees, it is helping in gathering information about drug trafficking networks and taking action against them.
5,589 smugglers arrested on VDC complaints
Bhagwant Mann said that in the feedback received from VDC 41 percent increase Has happened. According to him, based on the complaints of VDC from January this year till now 4,129 FIRs registered have been done and 5,589 alleged drug smugglers arrested Has been done
The Chief Minister said that due to increasing public participation, the ground intelligence and feedback system of the government is getting strengthened. He directed the police to take immediate action on the information received from VDC and also to make the process of filing complaints easier.
Thousands of arrests made through Safe Punjab App
The Chief Minister also mentioned 'Safe Punjab App' in the meeting. According to him, based on the complaints received through this app in the last more than a year, about 19,310 FIRs registered have been done and 25,138 alleged drug smugglers arrested Has been done
He said that the campaign against drugs is no longer limited to just police stations and government offices, but has taken the form of a mass movement with people's participation.
Instructions to focus on hotspot
The Chief Minister directed the officials to identify the areas most affected by drugs i.e. hotspots and intensify action there. He said that the campaign cannot be considered successful without completely ending the drug supply chain.
Mann directed senior police officers to maintain better coordination with VDC members and local people. He also said that effective methods being adopted in different districts should be identified and implemented in entire Punjab.
The Chief Minister said that he will soon hold personal meetings with SHOs to review the anti-drug campaign at the police station level. He said that the fight against drugs will be won decisively only at the level of villages, streets and mohallas.
Apart from Cabinet Ministers Aman Arora, Harpal Singh Cheema, Dr. Balbir Singh, Harbhajan Singh ETO, Gurmeet Singh Khuddian, Hardeep Singh Mundian and Barinder Goyal, Chief Secretary KAP Sinha, DGP Gaurav Yadav and other senior officers were present in the meeting.