Haryana govt not taking effective steps to control 'growing drug menace': Hooda

Senior Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Tuesday hit out at the BJP-JJP coalition-led Haryana government for allegedly not taking effective steps to control the "growing drug menace" in the state. There is an increasing trend of drug abuse among the youth, he claimed.

"The menace of drugs is fast spreading its tentacles in Haryana, but the state government is not taking concrete steps to nip it in the bud," Hooda said. He said the Bharatiya Janata Party-Jannayak Janta Party government had completed 100 days in office but "they are yet to start work on the ground".

Quoting data by PGIMER, Rohtak, the former Haryana chief minister said there has been a multi-fold increase in the use of drugs among youths. "Eighteen children in the age group of 14-19, who were addicted to drugs, had come for treatment in PGI, Rohtak in 2016, but in 2019 this figure jumped to 209," Hooda said in a statement.

"There is an increasing trend of drug abuse among youths in the age group of 20-25 as 267 came for treatment in 2016 against 451 in 2019," he said. These are only the cases recorded at PGIMER, Rohtak, he added. Citing the National Crime Records Bureau's (NCRB) data on drug overdose deaths, Hooda said 86 people died in Haryana against 78 in Punjab in 2018.

Describing the situation in Haryana as "alarming", he said 2,587 cases were registered under the provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act in 2018. He alleged that the state government neither has the intent nor the policy to tackle drug abuse.

"During our time, Haryana was at the top in per capita income and per capita investment, but today it is ahead in crime, unemployment and drugs," Hooda said, adding that these issues will be raised in the upcoming Budget Session of the state assembly.

Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) leader Abhay Singh Chautala also attacked the ruling coalition. He said both BJP and JJP had made tall promises ahead of the October 2019 Haryana Assembly election, but over the past 100 days, their leaders have only been making statements without any concrete work on the ground.

"The two allies are yet to formulate their common minimum programme, which indicates that the two parties may have joined hands but in reality, they are yet to find common ground," he said.