'People need to come together to end drug menace in Punjab'

Raising concern over the increasing consumption of intoxicants among youth in Punjab, politicians and eminent personalities today said people need to come together to end the drug menace in the state just the way militancy and extremism was eradicated.
Speaking at a function organised here by the Hind Samachar Group of newspapers, Chhattisgarh Governor Balramji Das Tandon, who was the chief guest, said the rising drug abuse in the state has become a matter of huge concern.
"People will have to come together to put an end to the drug menace in the state just the way Sikh militancy was eradicated," Tandon said.

Addressing the function, Leader of Opposition in Punjab Assembly, Sunil Jakhar said the problem of drug abuse was existing just not in Punjab but across the country.
"This problem is prevalent in not just Punjab but across the country. Politician will have to cut across party lines and work together to eradicate the problem," he said.
Group's Chief Editor Vijay Kumar Chopra appealed to all participants, which included social activist Medha Patkar and former Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry Virendra Kataria, to come together to end the problem.
Rs 41 lakh was today distributed as relief amount among 164 terror-affected families in Jammu and Kashmir, at the function organised by the Hind Samachar Group.

Each family was given Rs 25,000 besides relief materials that included blankets, utensils, clothes, flour and rice.