'We eradicated Naxalism, will eliminate narcotics': Amit Shah on drug-free India by 2029

NEW DELHI: Union home minister Amit Shah on Sunday said the Narendra Modi government has prepared a roadmap to make India drug-free by 2029, calling the fight against narcotics a national security priority.Addressing the media, Shah stated that the fight against narcotics has moved beyond isolated actions to become a coordinated national campaign.Shah said it was PM Modi’s objective that “drug-free youth power” would lead India towards Viksit Bharat by 2047. He said the government was committed to tackling narcotics with the same approach it used against Naxalism and terrorism.“Before 2014, the fight against narcotics was largely conducted in small units and isolation,” Shah said, adding that agencies had often focused on catching small-time accused. The government, he said, had now made the anti-narcotics fight a national security priority.Detailing the approach Shah stated that the government has strengthened its anti-narcotics drive through NCORD, state anti-narcotics task forces and joint coordination between agencies, along with the MANAS helpline and a revamped NCB. It also created the NIDAN database of narcotics offenders and a nationwide data-driven map of drug hotspots and trafficking patterns. The government now uses a “bottom-to-top” and “top-to-bottom” reverse investigation model, tracing small drug seizures back to their source and large consignments forward to their intended users to uncover the wider network.Shah also highlighted the government’s claims on internal security, saying terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir was declining and the sentiment of separatism had weakened since the abrogation of Article 370.He said those who had envisioned a Maoist “red corridor” from Tirupati to Pashupati had laid down arms and joined the mainstream, while more than 10,000 youths in the northeast had also surrendered their arms.Shah said Naxalism, which had persisted for five decades, had become a thing of the past. “We have eradicated Naxalism and will deal with menace of narcotics in the same manner,” he asserted.Get the latest India News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.