Chandigarh, September 17, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Former Punjab Deputy Chief Minister and Congress MP Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa has criticised both the BJP-led Central Government and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab after six districts of the state were identified among 73 districts classified as “ultra-sensitive” under the Centre’s anti-drug roadmap.
The six Punjab districts identified in the ultra-sensitive category are Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Tarn Taran, Ferozepur, Fazilka and Ludhiana. Five are border districts, while Ludhiana is located in the state’s hinterland.
Randhawa said the classification highlighted what he described as the failure of both governments to effectively tackle the drug menace in Punjab.
He alleged that the BJP and AAP were using the issue for political publicity while the drug problem continued to affect families and young people across the state. According to Randhawa, the Centre was conducting campaigns and outreach programmes, while the Punjab Government was making announcements and advertisements, but the drug network continued to pose a serious challenge.
“If the Central Government can see Punjab’s districts as ultra-sensitive today, it must also explain why its agencies have failed to stop drugs, weapons and smuggling being brought in through drones across the international border for the past several years,” Randhawa said.
He argued that responsibility for tackling the drug menace was shared between the Centre and the state government. The Centre, he said, was responsible for border security, preventing cross-border drone activity and tackling international smuggling, while the Punjab Government had responsibility for action against drug traffickers, alleged political patronage and corruption within the state.
Randhawa said the identification of six Punjab districts as ultra-sensitive should therefore be viewed as a failure of both governments rather than that of the state government alone.
He also questioned the Punjab Government’s repeated claims of waging a decisive battle against drugs, saying the state continued to face a significant burden of drug abuse.
The Congress MP demanded that the Centre and the Punjab Government jointly acknowledge what he described as their failures and issue a public accountability report.
He sought details of the results achieved over the past four years in tackling drug trafficking, preventing drone-based smuggling, apprehending major drug traffickers and rehabilitating young people affected by drug abuse.
The Centre’s three-year anti-narcotics roadmap aims to address drug trafficking and abuse through enforcement, precursor and synthetic drug control, demand reduction, harm reduction, and greater coordination among agencies. The government has also set targets for dismantling major drug networks, strengthening border surveillance and expanding de-addiction infrastructure.
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