In a shocking revelation highlighting the depth of Punjab's drug menace, Member of Parliament Harsimrat Kaur Badal raised two alarming incidents in the Lok Sabha on Thursday. The MP accused the Aam Aadmi Party-led state government of a catastrophic failure in controlling drug abuse and demanded immediate intervention from the Union government.
Parliamentary Outcry Over Extreme Cases
Harsimrat Kaur Badal presented a grim picture of the situation, detailing a case from a village in Mansa district. A drug-addicted couple allegedly sold their five-month-old son, an act born out of desperation fueled by addiction. Simultaneously, she highlighted the frustration of residents in a Bathinda village, where people have resorted to painting graffiti on house walls declaring that drugs are sold openly in their area.
The MP stated that instead of cracking down on the drug traffickers, the police are focused on removing these public slogans. "People are so fed up with the menace that they have written slogans on the walls that drugs are sold here, and the police, instead of arresting the traffickers, are out to remove slogans," Harsimrat told the House.
Official Data and Judicial Scrutiny Point to a Crisis
Citing the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report, Badal underscored the scale of the problem. She pointed out that Punjab has more registered drug peddlers than users and has recorded the highest number of drug-related deaths in the country. The scale of smuggling is massive, with 1,150 kilograms of drugs seized in the state last year alone.
She informed the Parliament that the seriousness of the issue has been recognized by the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which has termed it an "existential crisis." The court has formally sought a reply from the Punjab government regarding the steps being taken to combat the drug epidemic.
A Call for Central Intervention to Save Punjab
Directly criticizing the state government's efforts as inadequate, Harsimrat Kaur Badal noted that the Border Security Force (BSF) is seizing drugs on a daily basis at the borders. "The BSF is seizing drugs on a daily basis, as the state govt has failed in this regard," she asserted.
Her appeal in the Lok Sabha was a direct plea to the central government. "Let the central govt come forward and do the needful to save people and children from drug abuse to save Punjab," she urged. The MP's raising of the issue in Parliament puts a national spotlight on the social and law-order catastrophe unfolding in Punjab, demanding urgent and coordinated action from both state and central authorities.
