ASSEMBLY POLL '98
COMMENTARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
YEH HAI INDIA!
ELECTIONS '98
ARCHIVES

Lucknow plays host to international drug prevention meet

Sharat Pradhan in Lucknow

Representatives of 23 countries have assembled in the Uttar Pradesh capital to work out a combined strategy to tackle the growing drug menace. The conference is the first of its kind in India.

A five-day session of the sub-commission on illicit drug trafficking and related matters in the Near and Middle East was opened by Union Minister of State for Finance K M R Janardhanan.

Organised jointly by India's Narcotics Control Bureau and the United Nations Drug Control Programme, the session has been convened to recommend practical steps to implement decisions taken by a special session of the UN General Assembly in June 1998.

This was the 34th session of the sub-commission and the decisions taken are expected to influence the resolutions likely to be adopted at the forthcoming meeting of the International Commission on Narcotic Drugs in March next year.

Director General of Revenue Intelligence A K Pande told reporters that the discussions are likely to approve the special measures suggested by the General Assembly to achieve elimination of illicit cultivation of narcotic crops and initiate programmes of alternative development in affected areas.

According to Pandey, the deliberations of the sub-commission are of special significance to India on two counts. "Apart from India being one of the major opium producers in the world, together with Turkey, we are also a major transit state for the international trade in illicit drugs on account of its strategic location between the Golden Triangle and Golden Crescent."

"Besides, global co-ordination is now required to ensure the desired curbs on manufacture and international trade of those chemicals which are essential to convert opium and coca into heroin and cocaine, respectively," he added.

Elaborating on the point, India's Narcotics Commissioner Romesh Bhattacherjee said, "It's a tightrope walk, since these chemicals, which have been named precursor chemicals, also find immense use in the country's legitimate industries."

While admitting that the problem of narcotics abuse is grave in India, he said it is yet to be quantified since no survey has been done so far. He also blamed it on "lack of co-ordination between various government agencies, including the Border Security Force, the local police and the narcotics officials".

According to Bhattacharjee, the present structure of the Narcotics Control Bureau is not adequate to deal with the problem. "While there are as many as 157,000 opium cultivators spread over 35,500 hectares across the country, there are only 1,500 officials in our set-up to keep tabs on their activities," he pointed out. He hoped this conference would produce a fresh approach to tackle the problem.

Making a presentation at the inaugural session, Tony White, chief of the supply reduction and law enforcement section of the UNDCP, observed that his agency is now working with member states to develop an international information network for monitoring illicit cultivation of narcotics crops. "This should be operational by 2001, when sound surveying methodologies, effective national monitoring mechanisms, and central UNDCP analytical capacity will be in place."

According to him, three main groups of priorities have been identified for 1999 and 2000. First, the UNDCP will help improve the consistency and transparency of survey mechanisms, develop survey methodological standards, and review data from national monitoring activities. Then, it will contribute to the development of national monitoring mechanisms, provide technical assistance for developing and implementing such mechanisms, and promote co-operation and co-ordination among national and international entities. Finally, it will establish a central information repository, analysis and reporting capacity in the UNDCP, and develop improved reporting and information mechanisms.

The participating nations, apart from India, are Afghanistan, Azerbaijan Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrghyzstan, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syrian Arab Republic, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, the United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Yemen and Pakistan. Besides, there are 11 countries, including the United States, Britain, France, Germany and Japan, that are attending as observers.

Tell us what you think of this report