Rajnath Singh directs IAF to destroy poppy plantations before harvest in Manipur
- In Reports
- 11:22 PM, Oct 04, 2023
- Myind Staff
Rajnath Singh, the Union Defence Minister, has ordered the Indian Air Force to destroy the poppy fields in Manipur this season before they are harvested. This information was revealed when the Republican Party of India (Athawale) national general secretary Maheshwar Thounaojam met Rajnath Singh on Monday at his office in the national capital.
Maheshwar Thounaojam, an Imphal resident, informed The People's Chronicle on the phone from New Delhi on Tuesday that he had brought up the destruction of the poppy plantation by the Indian Air Force before it was harvested during his meeting with Rajnath Singh.
Maheshwar claims that he informed the Union defence minister of the concerns mentioned in an earlier meeting regarding the eviction of illegal immigrants from Manipur and the destruction of poppy plantations using the Indian Air Force prior to harvest. He had earlier urged Rajnath Singh to launch all-out wars against poppy cultivation in the state.
Opium, a narcotic chemical produced by the poppy plant, can be processed to make heroin and other synthetic narcotics.
Notably, Rajnath Singh was requested to stop the state's poppy growing by the Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI), an umbrella group of the Manipur Valley.
On September 23, 2023, state Chief Minister N Biren Singh announced the re-establishment of a joint committee of the Narcotics Control Bureau and Narcotics and Affairs of Border (NAB) to assess and eradicate poppy farms as part of measures to restart the campaign against drugs.
Since 2017, the state government destroyed nearly 15,500 acres of poppy fields. Nearly 85% of the area lay in Kuki-dominated districts, according to official data.
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