Himachal governor says 10 foreign nationals arrested last year in drug peddling incidents

As many as 1,742 people, including 10 foreign nationals, were arrested in last one year for allegedly peddling drugs in Himachal Pradesh, Governor Acharya Dev Vrat told the Assembly on Monday. He said the Jai Ram Thakur government is committed towards eradicating the drug menace from the state and 1,342 cases were registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985.

Recently, a conference was also held at Panchkula in which chief ministers of Haryana, Punjab and Uttrakhand and senior officers of Rajasthan, Delhi and Chandigarh discussed a joint strategy for tackling the menace, the governor said. He also hailed the Centre's decision of increasing the minimum support price (MSP) of all notified Kharif and Rabi crops by at least 150 percent of the cost of production.

"This initiative of the Union government will help in doubling the income of farmers," he said in his address to the Assembly. The governor said the state government had launched the 'Prakartik Kheti-Khushal Kisan' scheme to promote natural farming.

Under the scheme, about 9,000 farmers were imparted training during the current financial year and about 3,000 farmers have successfully adopted this farming practice, he said. The budget session of the Himachal Pradesh Assembly began Monday and would last till February 18. The discussion on the governor's address would be held from February 5 to 7, Speaker Rajeev Bindal had said. The Jai Ram Thakur government would present its budget for 2019-20 on February 9.

The budget would be presented by Chief Minister Thakur, who also holds the state's Finance Ministry portfolio. Voting on Demands for Grants would be held on the last day of the session on February 18 at 4 pm. The session would have a total of 13 sittings and it has been decided to hold the sittings even on Saturdays, February 9 and 16, the speaker said, adding that February 8 and 14 have been earmarked as private members days.

(With inputs from agencies.)