Punjab's lowest high

During the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, small groups of aged women could be seen talking to candidates of different parties at public meetings in villages of Punjab. With moist eyes, they would seek a minute or two to narrate tales of how drugs had ruined lives of their sons or grandsons.

Though Punjab did battle drug abuse in the past, with the state being used as a transit point of the international drug trade from Afghanistan via Pakistan, it was Rahul Gandhi's much publicised statement in 2012 that "70 percent of Punjab's youth are hooked on to drugs" that first set the alarm bells ringing. This was closely followed by reports of synthetic drugs replacing opium and heroin as the choice of the state's growing affluent class with easy availability in discotheques, and a series of arrests blowing the lid off that was claimed a Rs 600 crore drug trade.

Interestingly, even though the Punjab government roped in experts from the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, soon after Gandhi's statement to chalk out a plan for de-addiction and rehabilitation of drug addicts, the state has no real idea of the magnitude of the problem. While the health department claims that Congress VP had misquoted the academic study, it is yet to conduct its own survey to establish the incidence of drug abuse in Punjab.

The only available study conducted by Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU) had a rather small sample size of 600 with 150 respondents from each district with 75 from a village and 75 from a city. It claimed that those among the drug addicts, 75.8 percent were in the age group of 16 to 35 years and they included 3 percent of those who were six to 10 years old. A total of 85.6 percent of the addicts were matriculates while agriculturists (37 percent) and labourers (27.5 percent) made the other big groups.

The drug issue has already put all parties-Congress, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD)-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alliance-in poll mode, almost two years ahead of the assembly elections in 2017. The SAD has been fire fighting the drug addiction issue ever since an alleged drug lord Jagdish Bhola named Punjab Revenue Minister Bikram Majithia in 2014 for his alleged involvement in the drug trade.

While the opposition has been demanding his resignation, the SAD claims that he is innocent as the charges against him have not been established. Since Majithia is the brother-in-law of Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal, the Congress has been upping the ante against the SAD, demanding a CBI probe into the alleged drug trade. The demand for his resignation grew after he was summoned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The SAD insists that he was called as a witness in the case.

Punjab's former DGP (prisons) Shashikant has also been alleging involvement of political leaders from all parties in drug trade, claiming that drug money is used to fight elections, and therefore, politicians shield drug lords in times of crisis.

Promising 'zero tolerance' against drug trafficking, Deputy Chief Minister has blamed national political leaders with half-baked knowledge who have branded Punjabi youth as drug addicts. Taking offence to the statement of Rahul Gandhi "dubbing" 70 percent youth of Punjab as drug addicts, the he claimed that the study quoted by the Congress leader referred to 70 per cent of youth being drug addicts out of only 1,000 drug addicts who were part of the study. He said by wrongly quoting this study Gandhi had denigrated the martial race of Punjabis and Punjabis would never forgive him for that.

Under pressure, the Punjab government has taken steps to mobilise public opinion on the issue. Any complainant giving credible information about drug pushers at 181 will be awarded Rs 10,000 and the informant's identity would be kept confidential. Dope test for new recruits in the state government service has also been introduced.

Also, the Indian Council for Medical Research, New Delhi, has sanctioned a survey for the state that would take more than two years. The state government has sanctioned Rs 2 crore for the same. The School Education department has been asked to include one chapter on ill-effects of drugs in the school curriculum so that young children could be weaned away from drugs. Similarly, schools would give separate marks for sports participation to encourage youth to channelise their energy in sports.

Problem of drugs continues to exist even as 27 Drug De-addiction Centers (DDCs) have been operationalised in the state during the past two years. For tertiary level facilities, five Model DDCs (50 bedded each) are being set up at Jalandhar, Patiala, and Bathinda and these drug de-addiction centers will work under Amritsar, Patiala and Faridkot Medical College respectively. Fifty bedded Model DDCs at Amritsar and Faridkot are focussing on both de-addiction and rehabilitation. The Government of Punjab has approved 21 counselling and rehabilitation centers of 50 beds each except at Amritsar which is of 100 bed capacity.

Currently, there are 17 rehabilitation centres under construction with an estimated expenditure of Rs 70 crore. The cost of running each of these centers will be approximately Rs 1 crore annually. Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had requested the Central government to support the State's efforts. Union Finance Minister had announced Rs 50 crore for this purpose.

But it remains to be seen if any substantial results are achieved, especially before the state goes to polls in 2017.