New Delhi, Sep 22: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday said the government will undertake a decisive battle towards a complete victory by 2029 against narcotics, which have become the most serious threat to the country, by fixing "target, timeline and accountability".
Inaugurating the third national conference of chiefs of anti-narcotics task force (ANTF) here, he said until all departments of state governments and the Centre "engage to achieve the difficult goal of a drug-free India by 2029, we cannot move forward".
"In the past five years we have achieved success against several challenges such as terrorism in Kashmir, insurgency in the Northeast and the problem of Naxalism. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), with the cooperation of all the states, we have ended these major problems that have confronted the country for decades," Shah said.
Terming the fight against drugs the "most difficult of all battles", he said, "We cannot abandon this fight. To build a Viksit Bharat by 2047, to save future generations and to connect the youth with India's development, the only option before us is to make India drug-free."
Shah said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a series of steps have been taken to achieve the goal of a drug-free India.
"We now have to move from meeting to mission, from reporting to result, from seizure to dismantling of networks, and from case to conviction."
The Home Minister said that in the first ANTF conference, an institutional mechanism was created and strengthened. In the second ANTF conference, "we discussed capability, action and execution in order to convert that mechanism into action".
"Today, the third ANTF conference will convert this roadmap into a decisive battle," he said.
Shah said the "conference is the most important because this time we will move forward towards complete victory by fixing target, timeline and accountability."
The Home Minister said that by December 31, 2029, "we will collectively succeed in uprooting the drug trade from India", according to a government statement.
Emphasising that 'Vision Document 2026-2029' is like the Gita for all those involved in this fight, the Home Minister said it has been prepared with great effort after discussions with more than 35 departments.
Shah said a complete roadmap has been prepared after taking suggestions from all stakeholders, and it has been given to everyone with definite targets. Targets and timelines have also been fixed in it.
The Home Minister said that it will also be reviewed after some time.
He said the roadmap to a drug-free India is very important to achieve Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi's goal of creating a Viksit Bharat by 2047.
On this occasion, the Shah also launched television commercials to spread awareness against narcotic substances and laid the foundation stone for new zonal complexes of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in Lucknow and Dehradun.
During the event, the best-performing ANTFs of states and UTs were also honoured.
In addition, the Union Home Minister launched the newly designed website of the NCB.
In the two-day conference organised by the NCB, ANTF heads from 36 states and Union Territories, along with representatives of government departments and other stakeholders, are participating.
The Home Minister said that the time has now come to deliver a decisive blow against narcotics, which have become the most serious threat to the country and the world, and to achieve victory through collective efforts.
"We will have to fight this problem unitedly and with passion, and we must achieve victory," he said.
He said the MHA or the NCB cannot do this alone, and all have to fight this battle with top priority and complete dedication, and "we have to win it as well".
It should be our shared responsibility and resolve to end this menace of drugs that is hollowing out future generations, he said.
"The resolve should be that we will not allow even one gram of drugs to enter the country from anywhere in the world, nor will even one gram of drugs go from our country to the world," he said.
Shah also said that the issue has to be approached with sensitivity.
"Meet once the parents and siblings of even one young person afflicted by drugs. Until you meet them, intensity in this fight cannot arise in you. A weeping, wailing mother, a younger sister, and a boy who ranked in the top 10 in the Class 10 board examination is slowly moving towards death, while his helpless parents watch," he said.
Shah said the focal points of this fight have already been identified, and a roadmap has also been prepared at the state level to take intelligence, investigation, financial action and prosecution in one direction.
"Whatever we have done so far is not enough. Until the Principal of every school, the Patwari of the village, the PSI of the police station, the Director General of Police and the Chief Secretary of the state, and even the Home Secretary of the Government of India, work in one direction, we will not achieve success," he said.
Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation stated that instead of maintaining a seizure-centric approach, we must move forward with the objective of dismantling entire networks.
