The Bharatiya Janata Party has promised a drug-free Mizoram, where addiction to narcotic substances has been a major worry for almost four decades now.
The party’s manifesto for the November 7 election to the Mizoram Assembly also focusses on empowering women who outnumber men by 25,956 as voters.
“We will launch the ‘Operation Drug-Free Mizoram’ to curb drug addiction among the youth across the State. We will also constitute a specialised anti-drug task force directly under the command of the Chief Minister,” BJP national president J.P. Nadda said, while releasing the party’s vision document in Aizawl on Friday.
Asserting that the party would form the government in Mizoram, he said all border checkpoints would be upgraded to help crack down on narcotics inflow into the State and a sophisticated drug de-addiction and rehabilitation centre would be established in each of the 11 districts.
Mizoram, bordering Myanmar, is a major conduit of drugs that find their way to Bangladesh and the rest of India. Some consignments are offloaded in the State for local consumption.
According to the State’s Excise and Narcotics Department, drugs have killed a total of 1,794 people since 1984 with 58 of them dying this year.
Help for girlchild
Mr. Nadda claimed the BJP prepares well-researched and practical vision document unlike other parties that come out with “mere pieces of paper”. He said the research, with the financial aspect factored in, helped the party focus on empowering women in Mizoram.
“We will provide free quality education to all female students from KG to PG and reserve 33% of government jobs for women if we are voted to power,” he said.
The other schemes promised are a cumulative financial assistance of ₹1.5 lakh for every girl child and a free two-wheeler to every meritorious girl student of Class 12.
The BJP also promised a ₹350-crore scheme to revamp the existing government schools and colleges, establish the Mizoram Sports Academy, and introduce a corpus fund of ₹25 crore for a sports talent development programme.
Securing borders
Promising an accountable and inclusive government, Mr. Nadda said the BJP would resolve Mizoram’s long-standing boundary dispute with Assam while safeguarding the rights of the residents of Mizoram.
There have been intermittent clashes along the 164.6-km Assam-Mizoram boundary. A major flare-up in July 2021 led to the death of six Assam police personnel.
“We will work with the Central government to implement 100% smart border fencing and 24x7 surveillance along Mizoram’s border with Bangladesh and Myanmar to combat infiltration and smuggling,” he said.
A few days ago, a Manipur MLA had demanded the sealing of the Mizoram-Myanmar border to stop Chin people from coming into India illegally. He attributed much of Manipur’s clashes between the Kuki and Meitei people to the Myanmar refugees who are ethnically related to the Kukis.
The BJP is contesting 23 of the 40 Assembly seats in Mizoram. The party contested 39 in 2018 but could manage to win only one seat.
