Chandigarh, October 20: Punjab Cabinet Minister Harpal Singh Cheema on Tuesday accused the BJP-led Central Government of failing to act on Punjab's repeated written requests for stricter laws against the misuse of pharmaceutical drugs, saying the state is fighting traffickers on the ground while the sources supplying synthetic and prescription intoxicants operate outside Punjab.
Addressing a press conference in Chandigarh, Cheema said the Punjab Health Department had written to the Centre on October 31, 2025 and September 21, 2026, seeking the inclusion of a set of prescription medicines in the schedule of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, and that Punjab Health Minister Dr Balbir Singh had also approached the Central Government on the issue. Despite these representations, he said, the Centre had given no concrete response.
Cheema named the medicines he said are being misused as intoxicants in Punjab: Pregabalin, Gaba, Clomine, Tramadol, Zopiclone, Flu Practsol and Carisoprodol. These are medicines meant to be sold only on a doctor's prescription.
Allegation (by Cheema): Cheema alleged that none of these misused prescription medicines is manufactured in Punjab, and that the factories and supply sources operate in Haryana, Baddi in Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Ahmedabad in Gujarat — states he noted are governed by the BJP or the Congress. He alleged the Centre was "turning a blind eye" to the supply sources while Punjab acted against traffickers, and accused the BJP-led government of putting political interests ahead of cooperation with Punjab. Awaaz Punjab has not independently verified the manufacturing-source claims, and no Central Government response to Tuesday's remarks was reported at the time of writing.
Cheema also recalled his tenure as Punjab's Excise and Taxation Minister, saying he had written two letters to the Centre seeking stricter legislation to prevent the misuse of methyl alcohol (methanol), an industrial chemical. He criticised the reply he received from Union Minister Piyush Goyal, alleging it merely pointed to existing legislation — the Inflammable Substances Act, 1952, the Petroleum Act, 1934 and the Poisons Act, 1919 — instead of offering an effective solution. He cited deaths linked to methanol consumption in Sangrur and Majitha, and claimed investigations had traced that supply to Faridabad in Haryana and that Punjab had acted against the firms involved.
On border security, Cheema said Punjab had sought financial assistance from the Centre to strengthen the Punjab Police but had not received the requested support, and that the state had developed its own anti-drone system with its own resources to counter consignments allegedly sent by drone from Pakistan. He questioned why Punjab should bear these costs alone when border security requires coordination between the state and the Centre.
Cheema said the Mann government would continue its campaign against drug traffickers regardless of political pressure. On the murder of anti-drug activist Parminder Singh Jhota, he said the government stood firmly with Jhota's family and had decided to hand the case to the CBI in line with the family's demand — a decision Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann announced earlier on Tuesday and which Awaaz Punjab has published as a separate story.
His remarks came on the day Union Home Minister Amit Shah visited Punjab to meet families of people killed after raising their voice against the drug trade, as the drug question dominates the state's politics ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections. (Sources: Top Indian News; Illustrated Daily News)