Bengaluru, Dec 12: The Congress government is serious about curbing the menace of drugs to make Karnataka a drug-free state, Home Minister Dr. G. Parameshwara said.
Its job is not only to curb the supply of drugs in the country, arrest drug peddlers, but also to organize awareness programmes in schools and colleges to make the youth aware of the ill effects of drugs, Dr. Parameshwara said in the Council on Thursday, responding to a question asked by MLC Abdul Jabbar (Congress).
The Home Department has selected about 56 "efficient" officers for this job, Dr. Parameshwara said. He informed that FIRs have also been registered against police personnel who are supporting drug peddlers.
Recently in Bengaluru, the task force members visited 1000 educational institutions in a single day to create awareness about drugs and their ill effects on life. Dr. Parameshwara lamented that many students who have come to India from African countries are working as drug peddlers and supplying drugs to the youth.
We do not know how these people are getting the drugs to supply here. But we are keeping a close watch on their movements," he said. The minister mentioned the difficulty in taking legal action against them, saying that normally, cases are registered against such drug peddlers.
These African people want a case to be registered against them. In this way, they will remain in India as they cannot be deported till the case is cleared. The deportation process is also very tough as several permissions have to be obtained from the embassies of their countries. "We have deported about 300 people to their countries so far," the minister said.
He said that large quantities of drugs are being seized regularly and recently more than 200 kg of drugs worth crores were burnt. He said that in order to maintain law and order in the coastal region, the government has formed a special task force by deploying about 350 police personnel to prevent criminal activities.