Chandigarh, Jan 11 (NationPress) Punjab's Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Saturday appealed to Union Home Minister Amit Shah for intervention regarding financial support for the establishment of special NDPS courts to address the escalating drug issue.
During a video conference at the regional meeting titled “Drug Trafficking and National Security,” the Chief Minister emphasized the need for the Indian government to provide a one-time financial aid package extending over a decade to facilitate the creation of dedicated Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) courts and to recruit public prosecutors along with necessary support staff.
He pointed out that there are currently 35,000 NDPS cases awaiting trial as of January 1, and at the current rate of case resolution, a session court takes an average of seven years to finish the trial of a pending case, not accounting for any newly added cases.
Mann warned that in the next five years, this average resolution time is projected to rise from seven years (for 35,000 pending cases) to 11 years (for 55,000 pending cases). He stated that to manage this backlog within five years, the state requires the establishment of 79 new exclusive NDPS special courts and the appointment of 79 public prosecutors along with support staff.
Moreover, he urged the Union Home Minister to secure funding from the National Fund for Control of Drug Abuse (Chapter 7-A of the NDPS Act) for the Anti-Narcotics Task Force, live monitoring technologies for the six bordering districts, acquisition of equipment for technical surveillance, and the infrastructure and logistics necessary for a 5G jamming solution in prisons, among other needs.
The Chief Minister also mentioned that the state had requested Rs 2,829 crore through the 16th Finance Commission, which should be approved promptly to enhance law enforcement capabilities and upgrade infrastructure and logistical support.
Addressing another concern, Mann stated that in an effort to control, reclaim, and rejuvenate drug-prone areas in Punjab, a proposal for hiring counselors and coordinators to conduct surveys and studies was submitted to the government in 2022, yet no allocations have been made to date.
