Several Karachiites applauded the efficient manner with which provincial Department of Excise and Taxation (E&T) apprehended the criminals involved in smuggling of illegal liquour. Also, honourable minister for E&T Mukesh Kumar Chawla deserve much credit for stopping smugglers from carrying out illegal movement of home-made liquor from and across the province. Not only that but the rate of arrest improved in recent times.

What really surprises me about the very department is the fact that at one side they seem to be extraordinarily efficient while on the other side they have failed to get hold of some drug addicts partying right behind minister’s office wall. I still remember the little conversation I had with Chawla where I inquired him if he is taking action against the drug addicts who are daily seen taking drugs by the back wall of the Sindh Secretariat building that also houses his office. “I do not have such information, if the information is correct I will definitely take action against them,” he responded to my query.

It has been more than three weeks since this conversation but no action has been taken so far. They have kept a vigilant eye on all border areas of the province and cordoned off the entrance to make sure that the drugs and liquor may not be smuggled into the province or the smugglers are arrested red handed. However, the Excise Police has not been able to arrest the very addicts that feel at home at the Sindh Secretariat office of E&T department. In fact it will hardly take some one five minutes on feet from the E&T office to get to them.

“We will continue our fight against the narcotics till we wipe it off the province completely. We celebrate this day and get little satisfaction by destroying these narcotics but the real satisfaction can be gained only after this nuisance is eradicated from its roots. With such limited resources the department can’t produce ideal results.” These were the words of honourable Excise Minister who showed a lot of commitment during his speech on the occasion of Anti Narcotics Day when the department destroyed more than 1400Kg Charas, five kg heroin and more than three dozen bottles of liquor.

“Charity begins at home”, as the old adage goes. One wonders how the department will wipe off drug addicts from the province when they have not been able to remove them from their office’s back wall despite the fact that the addicts have been occupying the place for the last six months. They may be honest in saying they had limited resources when the ministry was given to them. However, one really questions what sources are needed to arrest drug addicts at a distance of hardly a few yards.

The promises for eradicating narcotics from its roots inspired me as a citizen but being a reporter I wonder why the Excise Police is not trying to trace the mafia that supplies drugs to the aforesaid addicts. It should not take long to deploy a couple of people from the Excise Police to monitor the activity of these addicts and based on that, they can arrest the suppliers who are the main culprits. A good idea would be to engage officers after disguising them as drug addicts so that no one suspect who they are. An observation of one week, I believe, would be more than enough to get to the real culprits.