The Hynniewtrep Youths Council (HYC) has raised several questions about the way the state government and police are combating Meghalaya’s drug problem.
Addressing reporters, HYC leader Enlang Sawian said that a Right to Information (RTI) request from the police department revealed that 514 drug peddlers were arrested by police since 2020. In that time, there were 303 cases registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act of which 238 were disposed of by the courts.
However, the HYC was surprised to learn that only 12 convictions were in Khasi-Jaintia Hills. The pressure group also said that the RTI revealed that heroin seizures totalled more than 40kg across the state, with 10kg in East Khasi Hills and 14kg in East Jaintia Hills.
In this time, the government has sanctioned ever more funds to try and get a grip on the drug problem. Sawian said that Rs 6.90 crore was sanctioned under various schemes for the drug menace. Rs 6.67 crore of this has been spent – Rs 4 crore-plus on intervention programmes and rehabilitation centres, Rs 1 crore on the state government’s DREAM initiative, with a further Rs 20 lakh to be spent on awareness campaigns.
Sawian expressed disbelief that with such a large amount being spent, the problem of drug abuse has still risen, as revealed in the just concluded Assembly session.
The RTI also revealed to the HYC that the anti-narcotics cell of the police service is not a specialised unit but is made up of regular police.
