Chandigarh, Mar 26 (PTI) Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema on Wednesday said though it is the primary responsibility of the Centre to check cross-border smuggling of drugs and arms, the state government has decided to complement the efforts of the Border Security Force to completely block it with two initiatives.

Presenting the state budget for 2025-26 in the Vidhan Sabha here, Cheema said the biggest threat to the progress and prosperity of Punjab is the problem of drugs.

"Ever since our government came to power three years back, we have broken the nexus between politicians and drug kingpins that was thriving in the last two decades under all parties," he said.

It is clear that a problem of this scale requires the entire society to come together and declare a war against drugs, noted Cheema as he spoke about the government's anti-drug drive "Yudh Nashe De Virudh".

"In just a few days of this campaign, Punjab Police has filed a total of 2,136 FIRs under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, leading to the arrest of 3,816 drug smugglers across the state. I promise to the people of Punjab that this is only the beginning. We will involve every section of the society in the "Yudh Nashe De Virudh" campaign and sustain it until the problem of drugs is completely eradicated from Punjab, he said.

The FM said the bulk of the drugs coming to Punjab come from across the border.

"It is the primary responsibility of the Union Government to halt cross-border smuggling of drugs and arms, as the 50 km area along the International Border falls under the jurisdiction of the BSF. Yet, nobody can deny that the issue is still prevalent," he said.

"We have now decided to complement the efforts of BSF by undertaking two initiatives to completely block cross-border smuggling of drugs. For the first time in Punjab's history, the government of Punjab will establish a second line of defence at the border by deploying 5,000 home guards alongside the BSF," he said.

"These home guards will be selected from the most determined Punjabi youth, who will act as the eagle eyes protecting the future of Punjab," he said.

He added that the government will also deploy the most advanced and effective anti-drone systems available anywhere in the world that can track and neutralize the sophisticated cross-border drones being used to drop drugs and arms inside Punjab.

"We have already started piloting cutting-edge technologies and will deploy anti-drone systems along the border in the coming year," he said.

He further said along with the issue of drugs, the state government has been very strict on cracking down on gangsters and maintaining the overall law and order situation in Punjab.

"To ensure that our police are well-equipped to respond immediately to any tip-offs and nab the culprits in time, we will launch a major initiative to strengthen the fleet of Emergency Response Vehicles (ERVs) that respond to emergency calls made on '112'," he said.

Currently, Punjab Police operates a fleet of 258 dedicated ERVs due to which the average response time to distress calls goes up to 30 minutes.

"In the next year, we have decided to procure 758 four-wheelers and 916 two-wheelers and deploy them as ERVs, which will effectively increase our fleet size by 6 times. With this, we will reduce the average response time to emergency calls to 8 minutes, which will be the lowest in the country," he said.

In addition, we will construct a state-of-the-art headquarters for the 'Dial 112' response team in SAS Nagar (Mohali), which will be equipped with the latest technologies and facilities, said Cheema.

The FM announced an allocation of Rs 11,560 crore for the Department of Home Affairs, Justice and Jails.

"AI-powered CCTV surveillance is being deployed in central jails to detect and prevent illicit activities, along with the expansion of V-Kavach jammers across 12 sensitive prisons," he said.

Emphasising inmate rehabilitation, over 2,200 prisoners have been enrolled in educational programmes, while 513 prisoners are set to join various skill development courses, he said adding, that an amount of Rs 100 crore is proposed for construction, renovation and upgradation of jail infrastructure in the state.

An allocation of Rs 233 crore has been proposed in the budget to modernize and upgrade police infrastructure, he said.

This includes construction and renovation of police complexes, purchase of land for police lines, police stations, and housing for the police personnel, etc, said Cheema. PTI CHS HIG HIG