Jalandhar, February 10, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Former Cabinet Minister and MLA Rana Gurjit Singh expressed profound alarm over the rampant abuse of narcotics and cross-border smuggling in Punjab.
He welcomed the Governor’s call for deliberations on this pressing issue, while underscoring that eradicating drug abuse cannot be achieved through pedestrian marches or superficial awareness campaigns alone.
Drastic, substantive action is non-negotiable. He lambasted the politicization of this crisis, where rhetoric supplants resolve, and urgently implored the Governor and Punjab Government to initiate immediate, tangible interventions.
Asserting Punjab’s status as a border state, Rana highlighted the decades-long scourge of trans-border narcotics trafficking, which shows no abatement. With 50 kilometers of frontier under central jurisdiction, the onus squarely rests with the Central Government. Rather than staging awareness rallies, the Governor must exhort the Center to deploy robust countermeasures against this insidious infiltration.
Rana revealed that since 2014, cross-border smuggling has escalated alarmingly, with drones from Pakistan relentlessly breaching the 50-kilometer belt. Drone-delivered narcotics have become routine. He interrogated: If drones perpetuate this smuggling unabated, has the Border Security Force (BSF) faltered in its mandate? *Who bears responsibility for this lapse?*
In the past year, BSF seized 367 kilograms of heroin from across the border—figures that likely capture merely 5-10% of the influx, as most consignments evade detection. Meanwhile, Punjab Police confiscated 2 tons of narcotics in 2025, outpacing BSF recoveries.
Last year alone witnessed 272 drone incursions in Punjab. Rana probed: Why do these drones target Punjab exclusively, sparing Rajasthan or Gujarat borders? This indictments the AAP-led state government and BJP’s central regime for their abject incompetence in stemming the tide—a pattern persisting across Akali-BJP (2012), Congress (2017), and AAP (2022) dispensations, marred by hollow promises and unyielding drug proliferation.
Rana pinpointed *unemployment and agrarian distress as the principal drivers* of surging trafficking and consumption. Punjab grapples with acute industrial paucity, leaving youth adrift. He demanded a massive central financial package to invigorate industry, foster job creation, and extricate young Punjabis from narcotics’ pernicious grip.
He excoriated the Punjab Government’s “War Against Drugs” as a egregious charade, mocking the populace. AAP’s pledge to eradicate narcotics swiftly rings hollow, as youth perish from abuse and unchecked home deliveries persist.
Demolishing petty peddlers’ hovels, peddling falsified statistics, or token campaigns yield naught. *Ground-level, resolute action is paramount.* Rana reiterated his demand for the Governor and Punjab Government to enforce substantive redress.
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