Punjab affected by drug abuse, de-addiction centres supplying drugs: AAP MP

New Delhi, Dec 3 (PTI) Aam Aadmi Party MP Swati Maliwal on Wednesday claimed in the Rajya Sabha that Punjab, a state ruled by her own party, is deeply affected by drug abuse and that the de-addiction centres were found to be supplying drugs.

Admitting to the problem of drugs in Punjab, Minister of State for Social Justice, B L Verma, said the drug problem was prevalent in Punjab, and his ministry was working to free the state from the abuse, claiming that drug use was there even in Punjab jails.

"Even in jails in Punjab, there is prevalence of drug use, and to prevent them we have started de-addiction centres in 10 central jails in Punjab itself to prevent drugs use," Verma said.

Noting that the matter was serious, the minister said, "It is a matter of deep concern. I will try to help find a solution to the problem of drugs in Punjab." Raising the issue in a supplementary question during the Question Hour in the Rajya Sabha, Maliwal said the Enforcement Directorate (ED) raided 22 drug de-addiction centres in Punjab this year and found out that these centres were not working to help people get rid of addiction but were instead found supplying drugs.

She claimed that the Punjab government is spending crores of rupees on large hoardings and advertisements for drug de-addiction, but the state is still in the grip of drugs.

Maliwal asked whether the central government can do something to ensure that the Punjab government spends the money needed for drug de-addiction, and that this problem can be addressed in Punjab, which is deeply affected by drug abuse.

She also asked the government whether any steps could be taken to ensure that de-addiction centres in Punjab focus solely on drug de-addiction.

Responding to the AAP member's supplementary questions, Minister of State Verma acknowledged that the problem did exist in Punjab and even so in Punjab's prisons and the central government has established de-addiction centres in ten such central jails of the state.

He stated that the AAP member's concerns about Punjab are valid, and that his ministry and he himself will work to address the issue.

Ranjeet Ranjan (Congress) also talked about rampant drug use in Punjab, and asked whether the supply of drugs was coming into Bihar, which is a dry state.

In his written reply to the starred question on the problem of drugs, the minister said, "To mobilise citizens across all States and UTs for the 5th year celebration of Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan (NMBA), a national campaign (August 2025 to November 2025) was organised with a series of competitive and participatory activities that collectively reached more than 6.5 crore people." The minister also said that his department has entrusted National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre (NDDTC), AIIMS, to carry out the 2nd National Survey on the Extent and Pattern of substance use in India to provide national, state-level and district-level estimates of proportion and absolute number of people who use various substances and people who are suffering from substance use disorders (harmful users and dependence on various substances) in India and also provide information on substance use and its consequences in the specific population groups.

He said the survey is already underway.

"AI-based analytics to identify high-risk districts for targeted interventions under the Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan (NMBA) is done by NDDTC, AIIMS," he said, adding that the last such survey was done in 2018 and its report came out in 2019. PTI SKC HVA