Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit chastised Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann for the “deterioration of law and order in the state” on Friday. He requested an urgent report from CM Mann on the steps he has taken to address the prevalent issue of drug trafficking.
Furthermore, Governor Banwarilal Purohit warned the Punjab Chief Minister about the importance of quick responses to his communications.
Purohit stated in a letter to Bhagwant Mann that he had been briefed by numerous agencies about the widespread availability and misuse of drugs in Punjab. He emphasised that drug availability, even in pharmacies, had become publicly known. He also mentioned a troubling trend in which these narcotics were being distributed through government-regulated liquor stores.
The Punjab Governor also mentioned a recent action by the Narcotics Control Bureau and the Chandigarh Police, which shut down 66 liquor stores in Ludhiana for distributing drugs.
He cited the findings of a recent Parliamentary Standing Committee report, which found that one out of every five people in Punjab is either exposed to narcotics or suffering from addiction. These data highlight the worrying erosion of Punjab’s law and order structure. According to him, the situation has deteriorated to the point where villagers are now staging large-scale street protests and taking matters into their own hands by forming village defence committees to protect themselves from the drug threat.
“Bound as I am by the duty placed on the Governor under the Constitution to see that the administration is carried on a level that would be regarded as good, efficient, impartial, and honest, and that the proposals enunciated by the government are not contrary to the law of the land,” he wrote to Bhagwant Mann.
“Before I make a final decision about sending a report to the President under Article 356 about the failure of the constitutional mechanism and taking a decision about initiating criminal proceedings under Section 124 of the IPC, I ask you to send me the requisite information sought in my letters referred to above, as well as the steps taken by you concerning the drug problem in the state, failing which I would have no choice,” the Governor said.
