Chandigarh : Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Thursday downplayed the extent of the state’s drug problem, saying the situation was not as severe as it was being portrayed. He also defended his government’s efforts to crack down on drug trafficking and address addiction in the state. Mann said, “As much as it is being publicised, there is not that much drug abuse in Punjab.”
The Chief Minister said his government was taking continuous action against drugs and focusing on dismantling the networks involved in trafficking and supply. He said the Punjab Police had recently seized a large quantity of narcotics from Kandla Port. Mann described the fight against drugs as a social battle and not merely a policing issue. “It is not only a police battle, it is a social battle,” he said, stressing the need for public participation alongside police action.
He also highlighted the challenge of drug smuggling through drones because Punjab is a border state, adding that security agencies were keeping a watch on the issue. Mann said his government had implemented the schemes it promised in a phased manner and would continue working on programmes aimed at Punjab’s development and providing relief to people. Defending government spending on public infrastructure, Mann said taxpayers’ money was being returned to people through roads, schools and other facilities.
He also responded to the opposition’s earlier allegation that the Punjab government would be run from Delhi if the Aam Aadmi Party came to power. Mann said his opponents had now accepted that the Punjab government was being run from Punjab and that he was in control of the government. Mann recalled that before the previous Assembly election, the opposition had questioned several AAP promises. He cited the promise of free electricity, which critics had said could not be implemented.
Mann claimed that around 90 per cent of households in Punjab were now receiving zero electricity bills. Mann said the opposition had repeatedly predicted the collapse of his government. He said opponents first claimed that the government would not last a year, then said it would not complete two years, and later predicted that it would fall within two-and-a-half years.
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