Include drug menace in poll campaign: Barak residents to politicians

Silchar: Even as political parties intensify campaigning ahead of the assembly polls, key social concerns such as drug abuse and alcoholism remain conspicuously absent from speeches and manifestos in Barak Valley, raising concerns among residents and civil society groups.

While political leaders continue to focus on development, infrastructure and governance, locals say the growing menace of substance abuse — widely seen as a serious social crisis — has failed to find space in the electoral discourse.

“I humbly urge CM Himanta Biswa Sarma to include the fight against drug abuse in his campaign agenda and take strong action after forming the govt. We have been getting rice and pulses, but these do not ensure peace in families,” said Sadhana Rani Nath, a resident of Sundari village under the Sonai constituency in Cachar district. “Men and students are increasingly falling into drugs and alcohol, affecting education, finances and family life. Many return home and indulge in domestic violence. Drugs are destroying students,” she added.

Nath made the appeal on the sidelines of a recent public meeting at Palonghat addressed by the CM, urging political parties to prioritise the issue.

“It is unfortunate that no political leader is talking about drug abuse when it is destroying an entire generation,” a social worker in Silchar said . He added that while law enforcement agencies occasionally seize narcotics, such recoveries represent only a fraction of the actual inflow.

Sources indicated that Cachar district has multiple police stations and border surveillance units to monitor movement along inter-state borders with Mizoram, Manipur and Meghalaya.

Despite these measures, drugs continue to enter Cachar and other parts of Barak Valley through neighbouring states, with only a small percentage being intercepted, officials said.