The State government’s awareness campaigns against drug abuse will be intensified under the Vimukti de-addiction mission, Minister for Excise and Labour T.P. Ramakrishnan has said.
Opening the 17th State-level sports meet of the Excise Department at the Devagiri St. Joseph’s College ground here on Saturday, Mr. Ramakrishnan said the functioning of Excise squads had been revamped in a big way, with the government making their services accessible for all to fight incidents of substance abuse.
“The department has already been granted ₹41.52 crore for the modernisation of its facilities and services. Also, 384 posts were created,” said Mr. Ramakrishnan. He added that as many as 282 posts were created exclusively to intensify enforcement.
The Minister pointed out that the newly created posts gave openings for 138 women civil excise officers for the first time. Besides, efforts are being made to set up six new Excise circle offices and to computerise all district offices, he explained.
On the department’s action plan for following up narcotic cases, Mr. Ramakrishnan said a separate Crime Branch squad led by the Joint Excise Commissioner had been constituted for the purpose. “Three special enforcement squads, apart from the Joint Excise Commissioners’ teams, will be tracking such cases constantly and taking appropriate follow-up steps,” he added.
Mayor Thottathil Raveendran chaired the event. M.K. Raghavan, MP, Deputy Mayor Meera Darshak, District Collector Seeram Sambasiva Rao, Excise Commissioner S. Ananthakrishnan, Additional Excise Commissioner Sam Christy Daniel, and Deputy Excise Commissioner V.R. Anilkumar were present.
