ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Narcotics Control is planning to conduct fresh drug survey across the country in collaboration with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to compile fresh data on drug users in Pakistan as last such exercise was held in 2013.
Ministry of Narcotics Control Secretary Shoaib Dastgir while briefing Senate Standing Committee on Narcotics Control, which met with Senator Sardar Muhammad Shafiq Tareen in chair, said his ministry would conduct drug survey in collaboration with the UNODC and it would be completed within 13 to 16 weeks.
He said that according to drug survey 2013, approximately 6.7 million, six percent of the then total population of the country was using illicit drug including misuse of prescription drugs. But now according to a rough estimate the number of drug users has surged to nine million in the country, he said.
During the previous meeting, the committee had summoned Inspector General of Police (IGP) Balochistan, IGP Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and secretary Excise and Taxation Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to brief the committee about the steps taken by them for eradication of the menace of drugs.
A Senior Superintendent (SSP) rank of the KP police officer instead of the IGP Khyber Pakhtunkhwa attended the meeting. The SSP informed the committee about some steps taken by the KP police against drugs use but the committee expressed dissatisfaction over his briefing, and summoned KP IGP in the next meeting.
The committee expressed annoyance over the absence of the IGP Balochistan, Secretary Excise and Taxation Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, and issued privilege motion against them.
Tareen said the committee following the instruction of Senate chairman submitted an application before him for summoning representative of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), the Intelligence Bureau (IB), Frontier Constabulary (FC), police and Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), to brief the parliamentary body regarding their responsibilities with respect to eradication of the menace of drugs. But the chairman Senate has so far not returned the application, he said.
During the meeting, Senator Peer Sabir Shah and Minister for Narcotics Control Azam Khan Swati, exchanged harsh words, when the later, said that the government did not fulfill their responsibility. Swati said that he fulfilled his responsibilities but under the rules, he could not call any body to the committee.
He said that it was the job of chairman committee or the Senate chairman to call stakeholders to the meeting. Senator Muhammad Sabir Shah said that drug use had risen to an alarming level in the country; therefore, everyone needed to be concerned in that regard.
The growing trend of drug abuse in youth, inside and outside educational institutes, has posed a serious threat to the lives and health of students as well as to our future. He said that if the institutions were not taking this important issue seriously, then it showed that the government was also not serious in that regard.
"If the federal and provincial government agencies are not attending the committee meeting, then the ministry is not exempted in this regard," he said. The secretary narcotics control further told the committee that the government had allocated for his ministry Rs 142,823,000 in the financial year budget 2020-2021 of which 94,340,000 was employees-related expenses.
If the eradication of the drugs is the top priority then how can it be possible through such a meager budget, he said, adding that earlier the UNDOC was providing funds for some projects but now it has diverted its funds. An official of the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) told the committee that the Finance Division approved creating 505 posts in the ANF on the condition of that no additional finance will be requested for the current financial year.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020