During the drive that commenced on 6 August and ended on 5 September, the Excise Department registered 10,469 cases related to drugs and illicit liquor.
Published Sep 11, 2023 | 12:48 PM ⚊ Updated Sep 11, 2023 | 12:48 PM
Kerala Excise Department launches special anti-drug drive during Onam month. (iStock)
A month-long special drive was carried out by the Kerala Excise Department, in view of the Onam festival, to strengthen its enforcement measures.
As part of the drive, drugs worth ₹3.25 crore, and thousands of litres of liquor were seized.
During the special drive that commenced on 6 August and ended on 5 September, the Excise Department registered 10,469 cases related to drugs and illicit liquor, a statement issued by the department said.
The “No to Drugs” campaign launched by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in October 2022, was one of the main anti-drug campaigns of Kerala.
Besides that, hundreds of accused persons and vehicles used to transport the substances were also taken into custody, the statement said.
State Excise Minister MB Rajesh praised the officials who were busy with the special drive even during the Onam festivities, it said.
As part of the operation, extensive inspections at border roads, examination of over a lakh vehicles, thousands of excise checks, and nearly a thousand raids in collaboration with other departments and agencies were carried out during this period, the statement said.
The highest number of drug cases were reported from Ernakulam, Kottayam, and Alappuzha districts, while the most number of illicit liquor-related cases were from Palakkad and Kottayam, it said.
Besides that, a fine of ₹15.56 lakh was imposed in relation to 7,785 tobacco-related cases across the state and 2,203 kg of tobacco products were seized, it added.
The state government has been working to make Kerala a drug-free state, launching yet another campaign — the “No to Drugs” campaign — started on 6 October 2022 and ended on 1 November 2022.
“We are not winding up our awareness programmes against alcohol abuse and drugs,” said Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan at the launch of the drive. “The ultimate aim is to protect children and youth from the drug mafia,” he added.
Elaborating on the government’s thinking, an excise official said, “We see drugs as more than a public health concern, growing addictions can also rip apart our society.”
At the launch, Chief Minister Vijayan dubbed the “No to Drugs” programme a “people-centric campaign”. Vijayan said it will involve ward-level committees comprising workers from neighbourhood women’s group Kudumbashree, community health drive ASHA, and Anganwadi rural child care centres.
The brand ambassador of the campaign was Sourav Ganguly.
As the chief minister had pointed out at the campaign launch, “No to Drugs” is not the only awareness programme currently on in Kerala. The first and foremost is the “Vimukthi Mission” anti-narcotics campaign, launched by the Excise Department in 2016.
The Kerala Police also launched the “Yodhavu” programme to identify victims of drug and substance abuse at schools. This is in addition to anti-drug clubs in schools.
Among the other programmes are these committees that have been established in colleges under the Kerala University of Health Science, to check drug usage among students — the “Nerkootam” committee and the “Sradha” committee, specifically for college hostels.
Efforts are on to establish similar committees at all arts and science colleges and colleges under the APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University.
The other programmes are:
Currently, the state has 14 active deaddiction centres, apart from zonal counselling centres in Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam, and Kozhikode districts. The government has decided to set up two more deaddiction centres in each district.
Two deaddiction centres have been proposed at Ernakulam and Kozhikode for women and children; these will be in addition to the one in operation at Thiruvananthapuram.
(With PTI inputs)
