Modi govt determined to wipe out drug menace from India, says Amit Shah

The Narendra Modi government is determined to wipe out all kinds of narcotics from the nation and is making an all-out effort to achieve this goal, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Tuesday.

Addressing the Second National Conference of Heads of Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF) of States and Union Territories, he also said the time has come to change the scale of action against the drug menace so that there are more successes in the coming days.

The conference, organised by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), began here on Tuesday.

The home minister said Prime Minister Modi has set a target of 2047 to make India a fully developed and great nation. To achieve this dream of PM Modi, the country has to be fully secure, he said.

"The Modi government is determined to wipe out the drug menace from the country and is making all-out efforts to achieve this goal," Shah said.

"PM Modi has set forth the vision of creating an India by 2047 that will be the world's number one in every aspect and fully developed -- a nation secure enough that no one can penetrate. For this, our youth are the biggest hope, and if they are determined, nothing is impossible, as they are the foundation of any nation."  Shah said in some parts of the world, people have seen the link between a nation's development and the challenge of drug abuse. "Unfortunately, two of the regions from where drugs are supplied globally are very close to us. So this is the time that we fight against it strongly," he said.

The home minister said it is very important to save the young generation from drugs to achieve the goal of a fully developed India. The foundation of any great state is its young generation, Shah said.

Shah said there are three types of narcotics cartels -- one that operates at all entry points of the country, another is the distribution from the entry point to the state, and the third are those that operate in small shops or kiosks, selling drugs.

"The time has come to deal a big blow to these three types of cartels. I believe that it can happen only when the officers responsible for working against drugs decide to take strong action against them," the minister said.

The home minister also set in motion the process of destroying narcotics worth Rs 4,794 crore seized in different parts of the country.

On Monday, Shah said the Modi government was determined to eradicate the menace of drugs by uniting all ANTFs. He also released the NCB's annual report 2024.

The NCB has been actively coordinating with the GST department, state drug controllers, Income Tax authorities and financial institutions to uncover the full extent of the drug diversion network.