International Day against Drug Abuse & Illicit Trafficking , Incentivised Agricultural Reforms agenda
1. International Day against Drug Abuse & Illicit Trafficking
- International Day Against Drug Abuse And Illicit Trafficking is celebrated on June 26 every year.
- The day is dedicated to eradicating drug abuse and neutralise the systemic challenges which sustain the illegal drug issues.
- The theme for the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking 2020 “Better Knowledge for Better Care emphasises the need to improve the understanding of the world drug problem and how better knowledge will foster greater international cooperation for countering its impact on health, governance and security”.
- “Nasha Mukt Bharat: Annual Action Plan (2020-21) for 272 Most Affected Districts’ was e-launched by Shri Rattan Lal Kataria, Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment on the occasion of “International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking”.
- It is the nodal Ministry for drug demand reduction which coordinates and monitors all aspects of drug abuse prevention which include assessment of the extent of the problem, preventive action, treatment and rehabilitation of addicts, dissemination of information and public awareness.
- The Minister said that Nasha Mukt Bharat Annual Action Plan for 2020-21 would focus on 272 most affected districts and launch a three-pronged attack combining efforts of Narcotics Bureau, Outreach/Awareness by Social Justice and Treatment through the Health Dept.
- The Action Plan has the following components: Awareness generation programmes, Focus on Higher Educational institutions, University Campuses and Schools, Community outreach and identification of dependent population, Focus on Treatment facilities in Hospital settings, and Capacity Building Programmes for Service Provider.
- The finding of the National Survey on Extent and Pattern of Substance Use in India and list of districts which are vulnerable from the supply point of view provided by Narcotics Control Bureau, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment would undertake intervention programmes in vulnerable districts across the country with an aim to: Reach out to Children and Youth for awareness about ill effect of drug use; Increase community participation and public cooperation, Supporting Government Hospitals for opening up De- addiction Centers in addition to existing Ministry Supported De-addiction Centers (IRCAs), and Conducting Training programme for participants.
- The Minister said that his Ministry provides community based services for the identification, treatment and rehabilitation of addicts through Voluntary Organizations.
- It provides financial assistance to NGOs across the country for running de-addiction centres.
- The Ministry has also set up a 24×7 National Toll Free drug de-addiction helpline number 1800110031 to help the victims of drug abuse, their family and society at large.
- Ministry has also prepared a National Action Plan for Drug Demand Reduction for the period 2018-2025 which aims at reduction of adverse consequences of drug abuse through a multi-pronged strategy involving education, de-addiction and rehabilitation of affected individuals and their families.
- The Action Plan includes components for preventive education and awareness generation, capacity building, treatment and rehabilitation, setting quality standards, focussed intervention in vulnerable areas, skill development, vocational training and livelihood support of ex-drug addicts, State/UT specific interventions, surveys, studies, evaluation and research etc.
- The problem of drug abuse and illicit trafficking is at Society level and so we have to involve Communities along with health department officials with focus on our youths.
- He said that the funds for this programme in the year 2017-18 was Rs 49 crores and now in the year 2019-20 it was Rs 110 crores and in the year 2020-21, the fund has been increased to Rs 260 crores, i.e. more than 5 times.
- It shows our commitment to tackle this grave problem of drug abuse and illicit trafficking.
2. Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare states to be incentivised on their Agricultural Reforms agenda
- In view of fact that in the third tranche of Rs 20 lakh crores fiscal stimulus package, Government of India had announced various measures to boost agriculture to strengthen Infrastructure Logistics and Capacity Building for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Processing Sectors and in order to re-orient its proposed formulation on the agriculture reforms and incentives for exports in the light of para 7 of the ToR, FC-XV had called for this discussion.
- India is the second highest agriculture producer in the world and world leader in many significant agriculture categories.
- It has competitive advantage over other countries in agriculture as its diverse agro-climatic conditions created diverse crop portfolio potential two main cropping seasons (Kharif and Rabi) and relatively low cost of labour and manufacturing.
- However, given the Competitive edge, India is only ranked 11th globally in terms of agriculture exports.
- Despite India’s global advantage in terms of hectares of arable land, it significantly lags smaller countries in export $ per hectare, driven amongst other things by (a) Lower yields and farm productivity (b) Low focus on value addition, allowing it to be captured by others such as Vietnam (c) Larger domestic market.
- India’s processed exports have been steadily improving, but still has a higher global share of raw commodities than processed goods.
- India’s agricultural exports have been volatile for the last 10 years, but have flattened more recently.
- Due to effect of fall in global prices and back to back drought during 2014, 2015 and 2016, exports dropped by 10% CAGR Recent growth rates show that agri-food production is rising faster than growth in domestic demand, and volume of surplus for export is witnessing accelerated growth.
- This offer scope and opportunity for capturing overseas markets to earn foreign exchange and enable producers to earn higher prices for farm produce.
- India’s top 50 commodities and agriculture products make up 75% of its total exports
- India exports 70% of its agriculture value to 20 countries; opportunity to export more to Europe and the Americas.
- While India imports over $20B in agriculture products, it still maintains a significant trade surplus of $18B.
Discussion focused on the recent announcements (post-Covid) made by the Government related to agriculture sector which would be taken into consideration by the FC-XV for its award period from 2021-22 to 2025-26. Primary among them are:
- Details of the agriculture related reforms as part of the fiscal stimulus package.
- Amendment to Essential Commodities Act.
- The Farming Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Ordinance, 2020′.
- The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Ordinance, 2020.
The meeting also held discussions on the framework/recommendations given by FC-XV in its report for 2020-21 regarding performance grants to States for agricultural reforms.
