AA Edit | Centre must act on drug menace

Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s warning on Sunday, following a massive haul of chemical drugs in Assam, that there will be “no mercy for drug cartels,” and his reference to “the Modi government’s march to build a drug-free Bharat” have come as a logical response given that he has been meticulously following up on the menace and has talked about its destructive potential quite often, but the time has come for him and the entire government machinery to turn words into action.

The latest seizure of a consignment of methamphetamine tablets worth Rs 88 crore in Guwahati points to the fact that no part of the country is free of drugs now.

The youth in all the southern and most northern, western and the eastern states are now under the grip of a vice that has the potential to eliminate whatever demographic dividend this country has been boasting about.

That most of the drugs, chemical or otherwise, have their origin in foreign countries is a pointer to the added responsibility of the Union government but it does not appear that there has been a coordinated effort on its part to contain it. Gujarat and the ports there have been traced to be the gateways of the material at several times in the past but no concrete measures appears to have been taken to curb it.

The home ministry under Mr Shah has formed many an agency to keep track on the menace, which include a joint coordination committee of central and state agencies to monitor investigations in case of large seizure of drugs, a dedicated Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF) in states and a special task force on Darknet and crypto currency to monitor suspicious transactions related to drugs are some of them. However, very little has changed on the ground, given the spread of the tentacle drug mafia has in this country.

It is time that the Union government and its agencies marshal all the forces at their command and act on a mission mode. It cannot brook more delays.