4 states join hands to curb drug menace
Punjab, Haryana, Himachal, U’khand to share data in bid to combat addiction
CHANDIGARH: The chief ministers of four northern states — Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand — decided on Monday to unanimously set up a common central secretariat in Panchkula to share data and information to fight drug menace.
The chief ministers decided that nodal officers will be deputed by each state to coordinate in the sharing process during the ‘Regional Conference on Drugs – Challenges & Strategies’ held in Chandigarh.
The conference was attended by Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh, Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar and Uttarakhand CM TS Rawat. Himachal Pradesh CM Jai Ram Thakur participated through video conference.
Senior civil and police officers from four states as well as Rajasthan, Delhi and Chandigarh were present with the aim to evolve a joint strategy against drugs while overcoming political and regional divides.
“We the chief ministers of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand and the senior officers representing Rajasthan, Delhi and UT of Chandigarh are happy to have had an extremely constructive meeting on effectively addressing and countering the drug menace,” a joint statement said.
“We shared our experiences so far in our state-specific battles against drugs and recognised our common concern for developing strategies and actions that our governments can take to protect our youth, children and the next generations from the harm of drugs,” it added.
Those present in the meeting accepted a suggestion to hold regular meetings at various levels to tackle the problem and monitor progress .
The CMs decided to meet every six months to monitor the progress of the joint strategy against drugs.