The Indian government is escalating its efforts to realize Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of a drug-free India. Union Home Minister Amit Shah has called for intensified action and execution in the fight against drugs, emphasizing the importance of protecting the nation's youth from substance abuse to build a developed India by 2047.
In a recent address at the second National Conference of Heads of Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF) of States and Union Territories in New Delhi, Shah outlined a comprehensive strategy to combat the drug menace. He stressed the need to target not only small-scale drug peddlers but also the larger cartels operating at entry points, distributing drugs to states, and selling narcotics within smaller areas. He urged states to develop high-level strategies involving state and district police to target these three types of cartels.
Shah highlighted the importance of adopting advanced technologies to curb drug cartels, including darknet analysis, cryptocurrency tracking, communication pattern analysis, logistics and financial flow analysis, metadata analysis, and machine learning models.
The Home Minister also released the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Annual Report 2024 and launched an online Drug Disposal Campaign, during which 1.37 lakh kilograms of drugs worth ₹4,800 crore were destroyed across 11 locations in the country.
The government's intensified efforts have yielded significant results: * From 2014 to 2025, over 1 crore kilograms of drugs worth ₹1.65 lakh crore were seized, compared to ₹8,150 crore between 2004 and 2014. * Arrests increased from 1.73 lakh (2004–2014) to 7.61 lakh (2014–2025). * In 2023 alone, over 31,761 acres of land used for illicit drug cultivation were destroyed.
Shah emphasized that a drug-free India requires the active participation of states, district police, education officers, religious leaders, and youth organizations. He also stressed the need for a robust extradition and deportation system to bring foreign drug traffickers under Indian law, coordinated with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and state authorities.
The Home Minister warned of the rising threat of synthetic drugs and labs, urging states to identify and destroy them. He advocated for a scientific tradition of quarterly drug disposal in all states to prevent seized drugs from becoming a hazard.
The "Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan" (NMBA) was launched on August 15, 2020, in 272 districts identified as most vulnerable in terms of drug usage. The campaign aims to spread awareness about the dangers of substance abuse and encourage a collective effort towards eliminating it. The NMBA involves youth, women, and community members, with a particular emphasis on higher education institutions, youth clubs, and women's groups. Currently, the Drug-Free India campaign is being organized in 372 districts across the country, with ten crore people and three lakh educational institutions associated with it.
The Modi government has adopted a "zero-tolerance" policy against drugs, focusing on:
Amit Shah has called for a "ruthless approach" to dismantle the supply chain of drugs and a "strategic approach" to reduce demand, alongside a "humane approach" to harm reduction. He has also stressed that the fight against drugs can only be successful when all departments of the central and state governments work together. The government is determined to wipe out drugs from the nation and bring all drug traffickers operating from abroad under the ambit of Indian laws.
