Tussle for control of the Narcotics Control Bureau
Home Ministry wants NCB NDPS under its control
Finance Ministry has its own views
It’s official now. What was being whispered in the corridors of powers
till now is official. The Union Home ministry under Amit Shah is keen that the
NDPS (Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances) currently under the Finance
ministry be transferred to it.
The matter has been engaging the attention of the Union Government for
the past several years but no decision was taken. However, no one had commented
on it ealier. The Drug controlling regulatory body has been under the Finance
ministry. Now the Union Home ministry wants NDPS to be brought under its
control for better control of the menace and coordination.
Surprisingly, the cat was out of the bag today in the Lok Sabha when the
Union Finance ministry replied, “The matter is under discussion and no decision
has been taken yet.”
The response came when a question was asked by the BJP Lok Sabha MP
Sushil Kumar Singh, “whether there is any proposal of shifting the
administration of NDPS Act to the Ministry of Home Affairs”.
The Minister of State for Finance, Pankaj Choudhary replied that the NDP
Act 1985 was framed while amalgamating three central acts which were earlier
administered by the Ministry of Finance viz. the Opium Act, 1857, the Opium
Act, 1878 and the Drug Dangerous Act, 1930. The Department of Revenue under the
Ministry of Finance has been functioning as the Nodal Department in the field
of Drug Administration since beginning.” It transpires that the
matter is currently pending in South Block housing the Cabinet Secretariat and
the PMO.
