Last week, the Bhagwant Mann-led government in Punjab presented its fourth budget of its tenure, with an expenditure of about Rs 2.4 lakh crore and no new taxes imposed. Finance Minister Harpal Cheema said that special efforts will be made to stop the smuggling of drugs and arms from across the border. He admitted that "the prevalence of drugs is a major obstacle in the path of progress and prosperity of Punjab. We are taking another historic initiative to fight the war against drugs more effectively. We will have to fight this war not only with force and arms, but also scientifically through data and analysis." To effectively solve this problem, the Punjab government has decided to conduct a "Drug Census" in the state for the first time. An amount of Rs 150 crore has been kept for this campaign. Under this, every house in Punjab will be covered and information about drug addicts will be collected. Based on the information collected in this way, a plan will be prepared for the problem of drugs and its effective solution.
Drugs are a global problem in today's time. But why is Punjab, the land of Gurus, Peers, warriors and patriots, being so 'highlighted', every Punjabi and a person who has a sensitive mind towards Punjab needs to think seriously about this. Our losing province Haryana is standing in the forefront of sports across the country, even though its area and population are less than Punjab. Today, our Punjab has lagged behind many states of the country in many areas due to drugs, whereas a few decades ago, this green and prosperous region of the country had a unique position in the world. Today, films like "Udta Punjab" are being made on our mistakes. It is a bitter truth that we are becoming the object of ridicule and scorn by using drugs. Recently, the Honorable Governor of Punjab, Mr. Gulab Chand Kataria Ji has announced a foot march from April 3 to April 8 to make people aware of the ill effects of alcohol. He has invited political leaders and people who feel the pain of Punjab to join it.
The efforts of the governments are commendable and necessary. But we need to think seriously about this. Should the amount of 150 crores, which is to be spent on a census or the human resources that will be invested in this work, be used for the development works of the state, how much better the people would have been if they had been used for the development works of the state. Today, although Punjab has made progress in every field, drugs have become a scourge. If we look at Punjab 50 years ago, only half of the men used to drink alcohol at weddings and everyone was reluctant to take him with them during lunch so that the girl's parents would not come to know about his drunkenness. But now the situation is that the girls themselves set up liquor stalls. In our time, children used to be seen playing in the sands of the fields in the evening, we used to go to the fields and read books. But now the villages are more affected by the scourge of drugs.
Today we read in newspapers and other media, somewhere a “yellow paw” was carried out, somewhere a death due to drug overdose, somewhere a huge consignment of drugs was seized. For every Punjabi, this news is a cause of shame and sorrow. Our freedom fighters, martyrs and leaders had not imagined such a Punjab. Today, when the world is moving forward very fast in the race of development, it is heartbreaking to see Punjab going through the tragedy of drugs. Strange and strange news is being heard, only sons are falling prey to drugs, mothers are working as laborers in old age, sons are doing drugs. Let us all join hands and contribute to freeing Punjab from this scourge of drugs. I am reminded of the lines of the popular song that is often played on All India Radio Jalandhar-
"Oye Bhatke Hoye Jawano, what have you caught, be aware,
You have reached even the moon, today the people of the world be aware.
By taking the oath of Bhagat Singh and that's all, just say this
Don't roll the 'Dip' for the youth, this is the jewel of Mother India".

-Davinder Kumar