Gurugram ropes in teachers to tackle drug menace

Under the campaign for drug control, the mission teams will include ‘dhakads’ (strong men) to monitor consumption of drugs.The mission teams will be constituted at district, sub-division, ward, village and school-levels

leena.dhankhar@hindustantimes.com

In addition to school staff and police officers, the mission teams will also include civil surgeons, district attorneys, the district drug controller, the chief judicial magistrate, district education officer and district social welfare officer (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Gurugram: District authorities on Wednesday held a meeting to chalk out a campaign plan and constitute “mission teams” whose main tasks will include creating awareness about the increasing drug menace in Gurugram.

Under the campaign for drug control, the mission teams will include ‘dhakads’ (strong men) to monitor consumption of drugs.The mission teams will be constituted at district, sub-division, ward, village and school-levels. As per the discussions in the meeting held on Wednesday, school principals will be appointed as ‘dhakad nodal officer’ and school teachers will be appointed as ‘senior dhakad’.

“All government and private schools will be a part of this campaign. The dhakads will monitor the sale of tobacco products in a 100-metre radius of schools and mission teams will alert officials about drug deals,” said deputy commissioner, Shri Nishant Kumar Yadav, who chaired the meeting on the issue of drug menace.

“The district mission teams will have at least nine members and will include police officers. The deputy superintendent of the police (DSP), narcotics cell, will also be a member of the team,” Yadav said.

The mission team members will be trained to perform their tasks, he added.

In addition to school staff and police officers, the mission teams will also include civil surgeons, district attorneys, the district drug controller, the chief judicial magistrate, district education officer and district social welfare officer.

“The district mission teams will meet every month to create a work plan on drug control. The team will ensure the implementation of the state action plan and pursue legal action against those found involved in drugs trade,” the officer said. Yadav said that the need for this action was taken to control the impact of drugs on the public, particularly the youth.

In light of the increasing drug cases, the police have ramped up search operations in the district, said Preet Pal Sangwan, assistant commissioner of police (crime).

“Last year, we registered 65 cases related to smuggling and selling of drugs between January 1 and August 31 and this year we have already registered 104 cases. The sale and smuggling has increased and the drug peddlers are coming up with new modus operandi to smuggle drugs. We are keeping a check at suspected locations to ensure drug peddlers are unable to sell drugs,” he said.

On August 11, Haryana home minister Anil Vij had said that the drug menace is on the rise. Speaking in the state assembly, he had said that 97,474 people have undergone treatment at government facilities for substance use in the last several months in Haryana.

Vij had talked about the ‘Dhakad’ programme which has been designed to prevent drug abuse among adolescents and youth, particularly students. Approximately, 25 lakh students and their associated families shall be covered under the programme.