Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh met on Friday to discuss the issue of drug menace plaguing the region and decided to hold an inter-State meeting of all northern States on July 25.
According to an official statement, the meeting will be hosted by Punjab; besides Mr. Khattar and Capt. Amarinder, the Chief Ministers of Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and Delhi, as well as the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi Lieutenant Governor and Chandigarh Administrator are expected to attend.
Elimination of drugs
Capt. Amarinder said the Punjab government was committed to “the total elimination of drugs” being smuggled into the State not just across the border from Pakistan but also from within the country, especially Kashmir.
He reiterated his government’s “zero-tolerance policy against drugs”.
Though the problem of drug abuse is not as alarming in the State as it is in Punjab, yet the Haryana government has taken several steps for its prevention and also made the youth aware of its ill effects, said Mr. Khattar.
The first inter-State meeting was held in August last year and a decision taken to set up a centralised secretariat at Panchkula (Haryana) with nodal officers from each State to be deputed for sharing of intelligence and information.
