Rajya Sabha MPs raise concern over ‘alarming’ drug menace in Punjab
Thursday, 04/08/2016
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NEW DELHI: The problem of drug menace in Punjab came under the scanner of Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, with members raising questions over the alarming number of cases and Congress demanding CBI probe into allegations against ministers of the ruling SAD-BJP combine in the state.
The government said it was taking steps to eradicate the menace, adding that merely taking names is no basis for lodging prosecution.
During question hour, nominated member KTS Tulsi raised the issue, saying the number of drug-related cases being reported from Punjab was disproportionately high and out of the 15 top districts on this count, 13 belonged to Punjab.
Tulsi said nearly 40 cases were being reported from the state every day, which was nearly half of the reported cases in the entire country, and sought to know what serious steps the Centre was taking to check the ‘alarming’ situation.
Minister of state for home affairs Kiren Rijiju said the government was taking the situation seriously. He said the home ministry was in constant touch with the state government to take on the menace.
Congress leader Pratap Singh Bajwa said a former national champion Jagdish Singh Bhola , who was arrested on drug trafficking charges, has made shocking allegations against three ministers of the Prakash Singh Badal led government and named one of them as the “kingpin”. He sought a CBI probe into the accusations.
