LAHORE - Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi expressing serious concern over the increasing trend of narcotics use in the educational institutions, decided to make a strict legislation so as to purge the educational institutions from the scourge of narcotics.
Presiding over a meeting on Saturday at Chief Minister’s Office, he said the manuscript of Punjab Control of Narcotics Subsistence Act 2022 had been prepared in this regard. The CM directed to give the law a final shape forthwith and stated that the Act would be approved by the Punjab Assembly.
Strict punishments would be awarded in the schools, colleges and universities on the usage and sale of narcotics and effective measures need to be taken in order to stop the selling of narcotics in the educational institutions, he asserted.
It was decided during the meeting to enhance the punishments on the selling as well as usage of narcotics and the proposal to fix minimum two-year imprisonment and life imprisonment to the maximum came under review. The CM apprised that an independent sovereign institution would be established to eradicate narcotics and Special Courts would be set up in this regard. He said that Anti-Narcotics police stations would also be set up adding that the owners of the centre and the employees would also be held responsible for the narcotics peddling and its usage in the educational institutions. The CM vowed to save the new generation from the poison of narcotics at all costs adding that the narcotics peddling and its usage in educational institutions was utterly unacceptable. The CM directed to make the Act further effective and hold consultations with all the stakeholders in this regard. Parvez Elahi directed the additional chief secretary (Home) to start the consultation process with all the stakeholders in order to make the Act more effective. The secretary Excise gave a briefing about the salient features of the manuscript of Punjab Control of Narcotics Subsistence Act 2022. Provincial Excise Minister Sardar Muhammad Asif Nakai, Adviser to CM Amir Saeed Rawn, Inspector General of Police Faisal Shahkar, Principal Secretary to CM Muhammad Khan Bhatti, former Principal Secretary GM Sikandar, ACS (Home), Secretaries of Finance, Regulation, Law, DG Narcotics Control and concerned officials attended the meeting.