AAP lashes out at Punjab govt over drug menace, accuses SAD of peddling drugs

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has slammed the Punjab government over its claims that only one percent of the state's population is addicted to drugs.

On 27 June, the AAP alleged that the Punjab government was also involved in drug peddling. "When the ministers are themselves involved in drug trafficking. How can they accept that state is being ruined by it?" AAP leader Sanjay Singh asked.

"Bikram Singh Majithia, who is a part of the ruling dispensation, is hand-in-glove with the drug peddler groups. So, the drugs and problems related to it are getting government's support. So, one can expect the minister to accept it as a problem," he said.

Singh, who is pitching for the AAP in upcoming assembly elections, said that the villages of Punjab clearly highlight the havoc caused by drugs. "Today, Punjab has a serious epidemic in regards to drug menace. Punjab is now being compared to Mexico in terms of the use of drugs," he added.

Singh said the presence of a rehabilitation centre for women in Amritsar was proof of the seriousness of the problem."It clearly states that the government is indulged in drug peddling and hence this is obvious that the Health Minister will give these kinds of statement.... but everybody knows the truth," he added.

The AAP leader's reaction came after Health Minister Surjit Kumar Jayani claimed that a survey conducted in ten districts of Punjab revealed that only 1.8% of the population is addicted to drugs.

"We conducted a survey in ten districts of Punjab. It shows that 1.8% of the population is addicted to drugs. We didn't conduct the survey in all the 22 districts of the state," Jayani told the media.

"The survey has pointed out that the addiction of drug takes place mainly because of the peer group and because of the youth who make it a way of business," he added.

Last week, Vijay Sampla, Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment and Punjab BJP chief, had claimed that less than one per cent of the state's population were addicts.

--ANI