Shimla: With a view to curb the menace of drug abuse in the Himachal Pradesh, the State Government has constituted ‘Himachal Pradesh Nasha Nivaran Board.’ The headquarter of the Board would be at Shimla.

Chief Minister would be its chairman, while Chief Secretary, Administrative Secretaries of Home, Excise and Taxation, Revenue, Forests, Social Justice and Empowerment, Agriculture, Health and Education and Director General of Police as official members, and Commissioner of State Taxes and Excise as Member Secretary.

Senior Journalists Ashwani Sharma, Prakash Bhardwaj, Birbal Sharma and Bhanu P. Lohumi, Arjuna Awardee and DSP Ajay Sharma, Retired Additional Commissioner Excise and Taxation Sanjay Bhardwaj, Former Director IGMC Dr. Ravi Sharma and CEO Shriram Hospital Ankur Chauhan as its non-official members.

Former Superintendent Narcotics Control Bureau, Chandigarh Zone, Member, Institute of Narcotics Studies and Analysis (INSA), New Delhi Om Prakash has been appointed as Convener-Cum-Advisor of the Board. The tenure of Convener-cum-Advisor and Non-Official Members will be two years.

The Board would act as a Co-Coordinator between various Drug and Narcotics Enforcement Agencies of the State and would also suggest ways and means to tackle the menace of inter-state drug trafficking, production and distribution within the State.