Shillong, Feb 20: As part of its endevour to ensure a drug free Meghalaya, the state government is in the process of installing scanner vehicles at the entry and exit points besides engaging over 10 sniffer dogs for detecting drugs entering the state.

Addressing media persons after chairing a meeting with all faith forums on Thursday, Social Welfare Minister Paul Lyngdoh said, “There is a request that we need to press into service K-9 unit dogs trained specifically as sniffers and Mission director has moved this proposal forward and I had approved that proposal yesterday. We have not just been talking, we have been doing.”

“We will start with about 10 sniffer dogs along with trainers. I have already approved the proposal and this should happen very soon,”he added.

For detection of drugs at the entry and exit points of the state, Lyngdoh said, “This involved the purchased of scanner vehicles which are not readily available in Meghalaya. One vehicle is already in the process of being installed but we need two – one at the entry point while the other is at the exit point of the state of Meghalaya.”

The social welfare minister also announced the financial assistance of Rs 50 lakh to faith organizations for helping in the tackling of drug menace.

“It will depend on their requirement. Initially we have kept aside Rs 50 lakh to begin with but that is an amount we can always increase as it is demand driven. We have to be very particular to ensure that only geniune faith organizations are able to access this funding and that process of filtration will have to be very tough and fullproof,” he said.

The purpose of the meeting is to seek their valuable insights and guidance in shaping an effective response to drug-abuse. As spiritual leaders, they have a profound influence on society, and their participation will be instrumental in fostering awareness, compassion, and communitydriven solutions.

Additionally, a strategic framework has been developed, outlining key activities that faith institutions can undertake with support from the state.

The social welfare minister has also highlighted the measures taken by the state government after declaring war against drugs while terming allegations of failing to address the issue.

“I believe in the saying that if you are not part of the solution then you are part of the problem.
Some members have mentioned that we have been meeting repeatedly but you have not seen any results – I say this is totallly unfounded and totally baseless.
We have done our bit and I am confident that we are here not to score brownie points, not to say who has done more or who has done less. We are here with a sense of mission and we are here to work as a team,” he said while adding “When we work as a team, we are supposed to march to one single goal. Let us not therefore try to score brownie points show the government as ineffectual just talking not doing as this is not true.”

“We have invited you in order to take this process and mission forward because we are truly committed to the cause of a drug free Meghalaya. So if any of you is under the impression that we have only been talking I would like to share what the government has done since our last meeting with faith leaders held last year,” he added further.

Lyngdoh reminded that in the month of December just less than a month back, the government had constituted a dedicated team of the anti-narcotic tas force (ANTF).

“All these years the ANTF has been doing multiple policing duties apart from drug reduction and deal with crimes of drug. The mission director would vouched for this fact that police officers and police constables and their juniors have not only been dealing with drugs but attending to other duties of law and order, crimes, attending to programmes, VIP protection etc,” he said whle adding “Only last December we constituted a dedicated ANTF team with a strength of 40 persons that will deal solely with the issue of drugs. Our chief minister had inaugurated the unit. They have a police station of their own and we are also we have procure equipment for this group to deal solely with the issue of drugs. This ANTF is being led by an SP rank officer with two additional SPs assisting him and their strength is about 40 in term of manpower. We have done it and not talk.”

He further stated that Meghalaya has changed the course from implementing the NDPS, the outdated version of the NDPS to PITNDPS, which also has provisions for preventive detention of repeated offenders.

“In the past, this has not happened which is why the general complaint is that the same person, who is detained and arrested, you can again seen the same guy a couple of weeks later. Already four persons have gone under preventive detention under PITNDPS Act and the term of custody ranges from one year to three years. We have done it,” Lyngdoh said.

In regards to the community based initiatives, the minister said, “After our interaction with stakeholders and specially with the dorbar shnongs, one of the dorbar shnong has come forward to offer a plot of land and it is the Mawlai Town Dorbar for which financial assistance has come from the government of Meghalaya through the DREAM mission. We have done it and we have not just talked about it.”

On seizure of drugs, Lyngdoh said, “People have been asking as to what happen to the drugs that have been seized whether these are being resold by the police, whether these are being hidden somewhere, if you recall just a month back there were two episode of incineration of seized drugs and the latest instance was attended by the chief minister and the home minister and this took place at one of the cement plants, which again we have to report and get permission from the court to get the incineration organized. We have just not talked about it. We have done it.”

Talking about the revival of the village defence parties (VDPs), Lyngdoh said, “We have reinitiated the creation of more VDPs as some of you might be aware there are just 11 VDPs in the city of Shillong with a population that is nearing 7 lakh. Just 11 VDPs alone will not do and to incentivise these VDPs, we have arranged provisions like uniforms, torches and also the financial incentives has been raised from Rs 800 to Rs 3000 per volunteer per month. If we do not act, meeting you here is a criminal waste of your time and criminal waste of our time as well.”

“Let’s take this that we are here as a team and let us try to score self goals, let us not try to proof that I am smarter than he is or doing more than he is, our attitude should be that we are here against a major and common enemy, we need to eradicate that enemy through team work. Team work works,” he asserted.

Read: Govt to pump ₹4000 Crore into transforming top tourist destinations in Meghalaya

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