Army brig takes the helm to purge Punjab of drug abuse

The Punjab government has fully activated the Narcotics Control Department (NCD) with a serving army brigadier taking charge of the post of its director general, in order to purge the province's educational institutions of drugs abuse.

Brig Zaheer was nominated by the GHQ as the new DG NCD. After his assuming the office, the provincial government has started releasing funds after the approval from Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz. More than 600 retired military personnel would be hired on contract basis in the department.

According to sources, services of more than 480 personnel would be acquired on deputation from excise, customs and police departments. The government planned to increase their perks by amending the rules.

The department was created as the 'narcotics control wing' in the Excise and Taxation Department in 2017 with a view to stopping the drug peddling in the educational institutions. However, the wing remained ineffective for the past seven years.

The main reason behind this inactivity was the reservations shown by the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF), the sources said.

However, recently, Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz directed for making this wing functional in real sense to keep the young generation away from the poison of drugs.

According to the sources, 1,180 personnel had been sanctioned for the field work of the department, including 600 will be retired army personnel. Funds were also being released for the purchase of weapons, communication systems new vehicles were being released, they added.