Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation, Shri Amit Shah chaired the Regional Conference on ‘Drug Trafficking and National Security’ organized in New Delhi today. In the presence of Union Home Minister, more than 1.40 Lakh kg of narcotics of worth Rs. 2,378 Crore were destroyed in different parts of the country by Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in coordination with Anti Narcotics Task Force (ANTF) of all states, which is a record for single day.
Chief Ministers of Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Uttarakhand, Governor of Punjab and Administrator of Chandigarh, Lieutenant Governors of Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh and Delhi attended the conference. The Minister of State for Home, Odisha also participated in the conference. The Union Home Secretary, Director General of NCB, and senior officials from various security agencies and related ministries and departments of Government of India also attended the conference.
In his address Shri Amit Shah said that in a country like India, drug trafficking and their usage not only ruins the future generations, but also affects national security. He said that the Ministry of Home Affairs, is continuously running a campaign against drugs through the meetings of Regional Conferences and these meetings are being held to review them and make timely changes in our policies based on the feedback.
Union Home Minister said that Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has set a target the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav that India and its youth should become drug-free by the time the centenary of the country’s independence is celebrated. He said that it is the aim of Modi Government to create such an India where not even a single youth is addicted to drugs and to achieve this it is necessary for the states and the Centre both to work together. Shri Shah said that today is the birth anniversary of Paramveer Chakra awardee Nirmaljit Singh Sekhon. On this occasion he paid tribute to Paramveer Chakra awardee Nirmaljit Singh Sekhon on behalf of the entire country and the Government of India.
Shri Amit Shah said that construction of a new building for Amritsar Zonal Office of NCB at a cost of Rs. 12 crore, inauguration of Bhubaneshwar office and Bhoomi Pujan of a new office in Delhi have also been done today. He thanked the Government of Odisha and Government of Punjab for cooperating with NCB and Government of India by providing land for NCB offices. Shri Shah said that through these offices, NCB will further strengthen the fight against drugs in these two states. He added that a compendium on drug-free India has also been released today. If we disseminate more information related to drug awareness, to District Administration, schools and NGOs, the fight against drugs will be strengthened even more. Shri Shah said that it is not just a fight to crack down on drugs or achieve complete victory, but the biggest victory in this fight is to create awareness. Shri Shah said that we cannot win this fight until we create awareness against drugs in the minds of the youth and parents of the country.
Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation said that today a total of more than 1,40,288 kg of drugs have been destroyed and all the states, especially the NCB, deserve accolades for this. He said that under this campaign drugs worth Rs 2,378 crore have been destroyed today, which is a record for highest quantity of drugs destroyed in a single day. Shri Shah said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, 10 lakh kilograms of narcotics worth more than Rs 12,000 crore have been destroyed in the last one year of Amrit Mahotsav and this is also a record in itself.
