NEW DELHI, Sept 7: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday announced a comprehensive three-year roadmap aimed at making India drug-free by 2029, saying Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants the country’s youth to remain free from narcotics and play a leading role in building a developed India by 2047.
Shah made the announcement after chairing a high-level meeting on narcotics in Goa attended by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and senior officials from the Ministry of Home Affairs and the state government.
Addressing reporters after the meeting, Shah said the Centre would pursue the fight against drugs with the same resolve with which it tackled terrorism and Left Wing Extremism.
“It is Narendra Modi’s objective that drug-free youth power will lead to Viksit Bharat in 2047,” Shah said.
He described the period from 2026 to 2029 as a mission-mode phase, with fixed timelines, clearly assigned responsibilities, measurable targets and quarterly reviews to assess progress.
Shah said the fight against narcotics could no longer be treated merely as a conventional law-and-order challenge. According to him, the government has transformed the approach by placing greater emphasis on coordinated action against entire drug networks rather than focusing only on individual offenders.
He said that before 2014, anti-narcotics operations were often carried out independently by different agencies, with enforcement frequently limited to arrests of small-time offenders. The present government, he said, has elevated the issue to a national security priority.
The Home Minister also highlighted the connection between organised drug trafficking and terrorism. He said illicit funds generated through narcotics could finance terrorist organisations, making narco-terrorism an increasingly serious international security concern.
According to Shah, the government has strengthened its anti-drug machinery since 2019 by improving intelligence systems, targeting trafficking networks, disrupting financial channels and expanding assistance for people affected by substance abuse.
The new 2026-29 strategy will focus on four broad areas: intelligence-led enforcement, regulation of precursor chemicals and synthetic drugs, demand reduction and harm prevention, and strengthening institutional capacity and coordination.
Under the enforcement component, the government has set a target of dismantling 100 international and inter-state drug networks, bringing back 100 fugitives wanted in narcotics cases and destroying 100 clandestine drug-manufacturing laboratories.
The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), along with state agencies, will also investigate the financial activities linked to major drug cases. Detailed profiles of key offenders will be prepared to help authorities identify and disrupt the wider economic networks supporting the illegal trade.
The government has simultaneously planned a large scale public awareness and prevention campaign. Shah said the initiative aims to reach around 50 crore people, while one lakh Nashamukti Mitras will be trained through programmes associated with the NCC, NSS and My Bharat.
Schools and colleges will be brought under the drug-free campaign, while the number of de-addiction centres is planned to rise to 1,751. Around 10,000 volunteers will support efforts aimed at prevention, awareness and rehabilitation.
The Centre has also set a deadline for strengthening enforcement infrastructure at the state level. Every state is expected to have a fully equipped Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF) by March 2027, with the Union Government providing assistance for training and resources.
Shah further said forensic reports in narcotics cases would be provided within 30 days to help speed up investigations and legal proceedings.
Highlighting the scale of enforcement action, Shah said agencies seized around 26 lakh kilograms of drugs between 2004 and 2014, while seizures exceeded 1.19 crore kilograms between 2014 and 2026.
He cited the government’s action against terrorism and Left Wing Extremism as examples of its approach to major security challenges.
Shah said terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir had been brought under control while development was progressing in the region. He also noted that more than 10,000 young people in the Northeast had given up arms.
Referring to the decades long challenge of Naxalism, Shah said the problem had now become a thing of the past and asserted that the government would pursue the fight against narcotics with a similar determination.
The Home Minister also praised Goa for implementing the three new criminal laws, claiming that the state’s conviction rate had risen from 22 per cent to 53.2 per cent.
He highlighted the 1930 helpline as an important mechanism in tackling cybercrime and urged the media, civil society and citizens to contribute to the national campaign against drug abuse.
Shah expressed confidence that the three-year initiative would receive nationwide support, stressing that protecting India’s youth from narcotics is essential to achieving the broader goal of Viksit Bharat by 2047.