Drugs and violence have become all too common amongst the youth of some villages in rural Haryana. Since the state shares a long border with Punjab, it has been long used as a transit route to smuggle drugs and that’s how the young people got introduced and hooked onto narcotic substances.
Noting the spread of drugs in the state, especially in the rural areas, the IGP of Hisar range, Rakesh Kumar Arya, selected 25 villages under his jurisdiction to make them completely drugs and violence-free. In an exclusive conversation with Indian Masterminds, the officer shared his plan in detail.
THE IDEA
The IPS officer got the idea for the initiative when he was once analyzing and discussing police’s achievement under ‘detection work’ with his fellow officials, wherein they discussed arrest and recovery data from previous years and examined their work. That’s when he realized that the police’s achievements did not actually match the actual impact that they had on the ground. There was a wide gap between the two.
“We were under the impression that we were doing a good job but the demand and prevalence of drugs in society and deaths caused by it were increasing over the years. We decided to target the demand side of drugs instead of targeting the suppliers. In the name of peer pressure and youth’s itch to explore, the penetration of drugs is increasing day by day, especially in villages,” he told Indian Masterminds.
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The officer decided to pick villages where the youth’s demand for drugs was high. He collected the data by analyzing villages where the number of drug-related deaths, drug-related arrests, and leads regarding the sale of drugs was high.
INVOLVING THE TEAM
Mr. Arya arranged a meeting with Deputy Commissioners and Superintendents of Police of the division and discussed ideas. They came to a conclusion that they should redirect the youth towards proper jobs, sports, yoga, professional education, etc.
“We decided to educate them about government schemes and the opportunities that government provides for their employment. If they were positively busy and had something to look forward to in life, it will engage them in a good way, rather than deteriorating in bad company,” stated Mr. Arya.
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The team agreed and not just the police, but the department of sports, health, and education came together to make a concrete plan and strategize to target villages and youth and rehabilitate them.
REHABILITATION OF THE YOUTH
The officer and his team made the youngsters who were on the verge of becoming addicts aware of the negative consequences of drugs and helped them come out of it. The ones who were already deep into drugs were given medical help and were taken to rehab centers to help them get out of the addiction.
“We also sensitized the villagers and their families to not treat them as outcasts. We made them understand that they are young people who need our help and love, and they shouldn’t be boycotted,” he said.
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FIRST MEETING
On 24th December 2021, Mr. Arya and his team held their first meeting in one of the villages in Fatehabad, Haryana. The two-hour meeting received a great response from the villagers, including panchayats, sarpanches, and schoolchildren.
“They have promised us that the entire village will not help, support or come to bail someone who is a drugs supplier. They are also fed up with the drugs menace and want their village to be drugs and violence-free.”
CHALLENGES BEFORE HIM
The officer is facing a few challenges while initiating the program, such as the lack of appropriate rehabilitation centers. The victims need to be watched once they are out of the de-addiction centers to prevent them from falling back into the drug trap.
“There is just one government facility in terms of de-addiction and very few and underdeveloped private facilities, so we are working on this aspect,” stated the officer.
Mr. Arya plans to honor the people who have fought their addiction, and once all the drugs-affected people of a village are rehabilitated, that particular village will be declared as drugs and violence-free.
