Ghoongat-clad women dare not speak before the male members of their family in Khu Wali Dhab village near the international border with Pakistan in Fazilka district. But they are playing a key role in the government’s anti-drug campaign, whispering information about addicts and peddlers to a lady inspector and constables of the Punjab Police at a special meeting against drugs.
In Ferozepore, another border district, SHO Harinder Singh uses a loudspeaker atop a police vehicle at Basti Shekhan Wali village to spread awareness against drugs and promise reward to the informers.
These two are among a large number of ‘foot soldiers’ or ‘frontline warriors’ of the Punjab Police who have become activists against drugs under a community outreach programme started by DGP Gaurav Yadav to take the fight against drugs to the grassroots. Many of these actions by the cops have gone viral on social media. At the same time, the Police Department, too, is circulating many videos of these campaigns on their social media handles. Earlier, many civilian activists had taken this role on social media but most of them had a brush with the law, as they directly confronted alleged drug peddlers or smugglers, leading to law and order problems.