Ludhiana--   The Ludhiana District Congress Committee (Urban) president Pawan Dewan has expressed deep concern over the increasing drug menace in the state. He added the prevailing drug menace was leading Punjab towards ruin. Addressing a meeting organised against drug menace by Raksha Jyoti Foundation at circuit house, he added the menace could be eradicated with joint efforts by the government and the society. He regretted that the youth was the most affected.

Dewan expressed concern over the increasing smuggling of drugs in Punjab. As a result, there is a big question mark on the functioning of the entire governance in Punjab, he added. He said smuggling of narcotics was taking place from other side of the Border, adding even habit forming medicines are becoming a big challenge.He said there was a need to keep a strict check on habit forming drugs. He admitted that raids were conducted by the health officials to check illegal sale of drugs but the leakage of information made these attempts unsuccessful. He asserted that there is a need to create awareness among the students by holding seminars in the educational institutions. He condemned the state government for promoting liquor drinking by opening vends in every nook and corner of the state.ADCP Ludhiana 1 Nilambri Jagdale also spoke.

Among others, Ashwani Bahl, Purshotam Khalifa, Sunny Kainth, Darshan Arora, Amarjit Singh, Dheeraj Sharma, Jaspal Singh Aulakh, Jatinder Arora, Rakesh Verma, Raj Kumar Sharma, Nandani Bahl, Monika arora, Ravi Sharma and Jyoti Sharma were present.