As part of the government’s efforts to rid Punjab of drug menace, Ferozepur district police has come out with a novel concept to eliminate the addiction problem plaguing the state. The idea is – nip it in the bud. Keeping this in mind, the police here is organizing seminars at drug hotspots exclusively for women and children, who, according to the police, are the worst sufferers when a family member becomes a drug addict.
By organizing such workshops the district police is aiming to sensitize women and children at one go to the problems arising out of drug addiction. The main idea is to instill thoughts in them to “strangle the drug issue at birth”. The other objective of the police is also to coax the women into anonymously revealing information about the drug suppliers, as they know from where the addicted family member gets his supply and the modus operandi. The police have got tremendous response from women who have been attending the seminars every day since June 26 – the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking. The idea of bringing children along with them to the seminars served them well. The seminar organizers engage the children in painting competitions on the theme of drugs, while their mothers attend the workshop. Another motivation for the women to attend is – the seminars are chiefly manned by women police personnel. The children are drawn to the seminars they get prizes for winning the painting competitions.
The police project is named “Nivekli Pehal” (unique initiative).
“Shuru se hi shuru karenge toh achha rahega (it bodes well if we start from the nascent stage itself),” said sub-inspector Jyoti posted at the office of senior superintendent of police (SSP), Ferozepur.
“While we interact with the women during the seminars, their children are engaged in painting competitions on the theme of drug abuse at the same venue. Whenever we talk about drug addicts or crimes related to drugs, the sufferings of the womenfolk remain unaddressed. They are the ones who bear the brunt of this menace when the husband, son or any other member of the family gets addicted to drugs. They face domestic violence. When children go astray, family life is in peril, and woman in the house loses hope in life. Children too suffer when the man in the house is into drugs. So, we planned to reach out to them (women and children) – to be their friends and listen to their side of the story,” said Saumya Mishra, SSP, Ferozepur, while talking to The Indian Express.
Randhir Kumar, Superintendent of Police, Ferozepur, said, “When we compiled our records and analyzed them, we found that very few women were involved in NDPS cases. So, this idea was floated. We are glad that women have shown a positive response to these seminars. They are not only attending the workshops but also sharing valuable information to police.”
In a seminar attended by some 50-odd women in Zira town on June 26, the police got valuable inputs from them regarding suppliers of habit-forming drugs.
“On June 27, the Zira police arrested two persons – Gurwinder Singh and Harpreet Singh (both from Moga) – who had come to Zira to sell habit-forming drugs. They were caught with about 2,500 tablets (Tramadol). They had been frequenting the area for long, as per the inputs,” Randhir Kumar said.
In another seminar organized at Bareke village, close to the India-Pakistan border, on June 27, information about some 14 drug suppliers was received by police which is being verified, revealed information. Also, some valuable inputs were received from the workshops held at Basti Shekhan Wali and Basti Bhattian located in Ferozepur city. “As of now, we are zeroing in on the hotspots only and this exercise will continue for about a fortnight for the time being,” said Saumya Mishra.
For the record, there are around 40 hotspots in the border district which have a high number of NDPS-related cases.
“Nearly 180 women officers are involved in this exercise. Every day two seminars each are being held in Ferozepur city, Ferozepur rural, Zira, and Guru-Har-Sahai constituencies,” Jyoti said. “One of these days many husbands had also accompanied the women, but mostly the women are coming along with their children to attend the seminars,” said Saumya Mishra.
At each seminar not less than 30 female officers are present, besides a few male officers. “The women are given blank chits in which they are told to give inputs anonymously about drug suppliers and afterwards we act on the tip-off. The women are very forthcoming as their identity is also not revealed,” added Saumya Mishra.
“Be it drug addiction or overdose deaths in a family, women of the house suffer the most. So, if they develop a strong opinion against the drug issue, the problem can be addressed easily,” said Kamaljeet Kaur, who runs a salon in Ferozepur city, while talking to The Indian Express. She had attended one of the seminars recently.
“If children are made aware about the harmful effects of drugs right from the beginning, it can keep them from indulging in intoxicants,” said Jyoti.