*Reviews preparations for Yuva Connect Prog
Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, July 31: The 14th UT-level meeting of the Narco Coordination Centre (NCORD) was today chaired by Chief Secretary, Atal Dulloo, to assess the ongoing efforts to curb the menace of narcotics trade and substance abuse across the districts of J&K.
The meeting was attended by Additional Chief Secretary, Higher Education Department; Director General of Police (DGP); Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), CID; Principal Secretary, Home Department; and other senior administrative heads and police officials while Deputy Commissioners (DCs) and Senior Superintendents of Police (SSPs) from across the UT participated virtually.
The Chief Secretary underlined the critical role of comprehensive investigations in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) cases, stating that the quality and timeliness of investigations directly influence the success of prosecutions and final outcomes in courts. He emphasized the need to strengthen the investigation process to ensure effective judicial disposal of cases.
He also reviewed the long-pending NDPS cases and directed the concerned officers to identify the underlying causes of delay and initiate necessary corrective measures. He called upon the Police Department to submit monthly status reports on NDPS cases, clearly indicating the progress in investigation and prosecution, along with the age and stage of each pending case.
Further stressing the importance of accountability, the Chief Secretary directed that all bail and acquittal cases should be jointly analysed by the Law and Police Departments to identify the potential gaps or lapses in the investigation and prosecution processes.
Addressing the need for robust drug de-addiction infrastructure, the Chief Secretary reviewed the availability of treatment facilities across the districts. He instructed the Health Department to augment in-patient de-addiction services in Government Medical Colleges and District Hospitals to reduce dependence on private facilities.
During the meeting, Director General of Police, Nalin Prabhat highlighted the importance of pooling all available human and material resources to comprehensively tackle the drug problem. He emphasized the need for fast-tracked, high-quality investigations and also flagged the misuse of courier services for trafficking Schedule-I drugs, suggesting some stricter surveillance and control measures.
Principal Secretary, Home Department, Chandrakar Bharti in his presentation, shared insights on the data available on the NCORD portal. He called upon the DCs and SSPs to convene regular district-level NCORD meetings.
Inspector General, Crime, Sujit Kumar, shared operational data of the Police Department’s anti-drug drive.
Meanwhile, Chief Secretary assessed the preparations made being for the Viksit Bharat Yuva Connect Programme (VBYCP), a flagship initiative under the guidance of the Prime Minister of India, set to be launched nationwide on August 12, coinciding with International Youth Day.
This program, spearheaded by the Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, aims to actively engage and empower the youth as integral contributors to India’s development journey towards a Viksit Bharat by 2047.
The Chief Secretary enquired from all the 10 Vice-Chancellors of the Universities about their preparations being made for both the pre-event activities and the main event.
He called upon them to devise a calendar of activities for all the pre-event activities to be implemented without any fail. He also encouraged them to motivate all the students for registration on My Bharat portal and make the activities engaging and informative as per the broad counters of this programme.
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