Jagan urges police, Excise officials to take measures to make AP drug-free

Amaravati: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S Jagan Mohan Reddy has directed the police and Excise department officials to work towards making Andhra Pradesh a narcotics-free state.

During a review meeting on Excise and Special Enforcement Bureau (SEB) held here on Monday, Jagan said that apart from narcotics, the police department should pay special attention in curbing illicit liquor and improving the performance of women police personnel at secretariats to ensure the effective functioning of Disha Act and app. Mock drills should be conducted on usage of Disha app, calls, and quick response, he said.

He said there should be two meetings to review the progress. Higher officials in the police department should meet every Thursday to conduct a video conference with the district SPs to review the progress regularly. Besides that, the focus should be on improving the performance of 15,000 women police and ensuring the implementation of the Disha Act more effectively, Jagan said and underlined the need to increase the number of people downloading the Disha app.

The police department should collaborate with the Excise and SEB officials to make the state narcotics-free. For this a coordination meeting should be held every Tuesday to review the measures taken by the SEB and Excise authorities in controlling illegal liquor and curbing the cultivation of ganja, Jagan said. Along with the SEB toll free number 14500, large hoardings should be erected at all colleges and universities within a month to control narcotics usage among students, he said.

All universities and colleges in the state should have zero narcotics. That should be the aim of the respective departments, Jagan said. Stressing on the need to conduct 'Operation Parivartana' in an effective manner, he said alternative ways of employment like agriculture and dairy farming should be encouraged among ganja cultivators to curb ganja menace in the state. Whether it is about illegal liquor, consumption of liquor in public places, or selling sand at high prices, SEB officials should respond immediately to the complaint and initiate necessary action, the CM said.

The role of SEB is not only limited to liquor but it should also strictly deal with narcotics, ganja, gutkas, etc., by making the best use of local intelligence (surveillance). Nowhere in the country, women police are appointed in the secretariats except in Andhra Pradesh. Services of women police should be fully utilised for achieving desired results and set a benchmark in the country, Jagan said.

The Chief Minister also said that 1.15 lakh families in the state have been given Recognition of Forest Rights (RoFR) certificates for 2.82 lakh acres. He directed the officials to give a report on the measures taken in relation to the development of those lands. During the meeting, the officials informed the CM about the sale of liquor in the state, steps taken to control illegal liquor, destruction of ganja cultivation, and measures taken against the growers and registration of cases.