Communist Party MP Yuwaraj Dulal Raises Serious Questions on Drug Control Agencies

Kathmandu. Nepali Communist Party MP Yuwaraj Dulal has raised serious questions about the working style of state agencies and the weak institutional structure in the field of drug control. Speaking at a meeting of the State Affairs and Good Governance Committee under the House of Representatives on Thursday, he made a sensational claim that state agencies themselves are involved in a nexus and setting in drug production and business.

MP Dulal mentioned that the country's youth power, families, and the overall society are suffering irreparable damage due to drug addiction, emphasizing that the government's focus should now be on prevention rather than just reacting to incidents. He was of the opinion that public awareness programs should be conducted, and the environment that fosters drug abuse should be discouraged from the root.

Commenting that the working style of the police and other related agencies in this sector is 'reactive,' meaning they only become active after an incident has occurred, he alleged that action is not taken in time even when there is information. Drawing the special attention of the Home Minister, he stated that it is necessary to immediately break such an illegal network involving state agencies.

Speaking at the meeting, MP Dulal expressed sorrow over the current pathetic state of the Narcotics Control Bureau. He argued that although about one-third of the total prisoners currently in jail are involved in drug-related cases, the condition of the bureau, the country's main agency for controlling drugs, is extremely weak and neglected. He discussed that the amount of rent paid by the bureau so far could have been used to build three to four of its own buildings, and stated that the bureau has to operate under severe shortage of necessary equipment, vehicles, and manpower.

He criticized the state's working style, saying, 'The agency where drug cultivation is happening is known, but they only reach there to destroy it when the harvest is ready. Even then, only a partial crop is destroyed, and the rest is left. After truckloads of goods have passed, only a small quantity is seized at the end. This is happening through a setting from production to business. The legal and structural status of the bureau is still like that of 2047 BS. A budget of 5 lakh rupees and having to live in rented accommodation for years due to not having its own building clearly shows that this is not a priority of this government.'