THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:
Kerala Labour and Excise Minister T P Ramakrishnan has said that the government would intensify action against drug-selling shops in the vicinity of educational institutions, including refusal of permission to reopen if found guilty of the offence.
“Currently, such shops reopen even though they were identified as the real perpetrators in many cases. To change the scenario, the State Excise Department and the Local Self-Government Institutions would together take severe action against such shops and prevent them from reopening,” he said while chairing a meeting of the Executive Committee of the state’s drug and addiction-free mission”Vimukthi” here last evening.
The Minister said the Excise Department had registered 67,713 cases under Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA), 12,425 Excise cases and 6,573 cases under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS) in 2019.
He said a Rs 100-crore model De-Addiction centre would be opened at Kinalur in Kozhikode by the Excise and Health departments in collaboration with the “Ardram” Mission.
Ramakrishnan said units of “Vimukthi Sena” would be formed in all the wards in the state by January 30 to keep track of drug-related activities. Out of the 19,499 wards in the state, Vimukthi Sena units had already been formed in 11,550 of them. Each unit will have 5 to 10 members, including two women, Anganwadi workers, Asha workers and Kudumbasree workers.
He said anti-drug clubs will be set up in all schools, professional colleges and medical colleges. Currently, such clubs are functioning in 3,739 schools and 576 colleges. “Apart from this, around 7,500 anti-drug clubs will be established in all libraries in the State. Various anti-drug campaigns such as evening gatherings, home visits and lighting the lamp against drugs will also be organised,” he said.
Satyajeet Rajan, Additional Chief Secretary, Taxes (Excise); S. Aananthakrishnan, Excise Commissioner; D. Rajeev, Additional Excise Commissioner; and T.V. Anupama, Special Officer, Vimukthi, also attended the meeting.
