89,913
Cases registered under the NDPS Act across India in 2024, down from 1,09,546 in 2023 and 1,02,769 in 2022, as reported by all drug-law agencies to the Narcotics Control Bureau (1,16,098 arrests and 13,30,600 kg seized in 2024). Registered cases, arrests and quantities seized are different measures. None shows the size of the drug trade or the number of separate traffickers, and a fall in cases does not by itself mean less trafficking.
Stop the Drugs Mafia: Zero Tolerance for Trafficking, Protection for Young People, Treatment for Recovery
Drug trafficking is not only a person selling on the street. It runs through production, smuggling, parcels and couriers, online markets, diverted chemicals and medicines, laundered money and, where it happens, corrupt protection. The Home Ministry told Parliament that between 2020 and April 2024 the Narcotics Control Bureau booked 92 cases involving the darknet and cryptocurrencies, and that drug-law agencies reported 1,025 cases involving parcels and couriers.
India already has machinery to fight it: a four-tier coordination mechanism (NCORD), which the Home Ministry says had held 10 apex, 7 executive, 266 State and 15,876 district meetings by 26 June 2026; an Anti-Narcotics Task Force in every State and Union Territory; a national helpline for reporting trafficking; and a Narcotics Control Bureau code, voluntary for industry, on precursor chemicals. On 26 June 2026 the Home Minister released a Vision Document on Drug Control (2026–2029) with four pillars, and said targets and timelines had been set for each sub-pillar. There are also schemes for prevention, treatment and rehabilitation. What the public cannot easily see is the scoreboard: how many cases reach the organisers and financiers, how many end in conviction, what the meetings decided and whether targets were met, and whether a person who needs treatment can reach it.
By "drugs mafia" we mean organised networks that make, move, finance or protect illegal drugs. We do not mean people who use drugs, pharmacies, doctors, patients or pharmaceutical companies, and we make no accusation against any named person, community or State.
Aarunya's stand: zero tolerance for the traffickers, their financiers and any official who shields them. The Home Minister uses the same words; we ask that the public be shown the results. Zero tolerance for selling drugs to children. And equal seriousness about the people the trade destroys: someone dependent on drugs is a patient to be treated, not a trafficker to be hidden among the statistics. We ask for the public record that shows which is happening.
89,913
NDPS Act cases registered across India in 2024 (1,09,546 in 2023; 1,02,769 in 2022), reported by all drug-law agencies to the Narcotics Control Bureau, with 1,16,098 arrests and 13,30,600 kg seized in 2024. Different measures, and none is the size of the drug trade. Status: verified.
source92 and 1,025
Cases the Narcotics Control Bureau booked involving the darknet and cryptocurrencies (92), and cases involving parcels and couriers reported by all drug-law agencies (1,025), over 2020 to April 2024. Different agency scope, so not added together, and a multi-year period, not an annual total. Status: verified.
source77 lakh
People estimated to need help for opioid use, from the 2018 national survey (released February 2019) as stated on the Social Justice Ministry's page. A historical estimate, not a 2026 figure; a PIB factsheet states the survey's opioid figures differently, so check the 2019 report itself. Status: verified as stated by the Ministry.
source46 and 82
Precursor chemicals scheduled as controlled substances as of 1 June 2026 (46), and chemicals on the Narcotics Control Bureau's voluntary 'watch-out' list (82). Scheduled means legally controlled; a watch-out chemical is not illegal, and neither list is evidence of diversion. Status: verified.
sourceOur position
Zero tolerance for the drug trade: the organisers, the financiers and anyone who protects them, and for selling drugs to children. A person dependent on drugs is a patient. We ask for a public record that shows which is being achieved.
Why this matters
Why this matters
Aarunya's stand
Aarunya stands for a drug-free, healthier India, and for the people of India against anyone who profits from poisoning them. Our stand is zero tolerance for the drug trade: for the organisers and financiers behind trafficking networks, for anyone in uniform or office who protects them, and for selling drugs to children. We will back every lawful tool that reaches the people at the top, not only the carriers at the bottom. Our stand is equally firm about the other half of the problem. A person dependent on drugs is a patient. Hiding the sick among the criminals fills the statistics and leaves the trade untouched. We will measure success by networks dismantled, convictions secured and people recovered, and not by the size of a seizure. By zero tolerance we mean firm, lawful action against drug-trafficking networks, organised criminal activity, corruption that protects it and the illicit money that sustains it. It does not mean treating people who use drugs, or people who are dependent, as organised criminals; individual cases are judged on their evidence and the law, and due process applies to everyone. We make no accusation against any named person, company, community or State. Everything we ask for is meant to be done by the law, with due process, and shown to the public.
The trade does not stop at the street corner
The Home Ministry told Parliament that the Narcotics Control Bureau booked 92 cases involving the darknet and cryptocurrencies, and that drug-law agencies reported 1,025 cases involving parcels and couriers, between 2020 and April 2024. These numbers show that investigators already meet trafficking by post and by screen. They do not show how big online markets are, or what share of all trafficking moves this way.
India already has a strategy and machinery; the question is whether it delivers
The Home Ministry describes a four-tier NCORD mechanism (apex, executive, State and district level) to coordinate Ministries and Central and State agencies, and a dedicated Anti-Narcotics Task Force in every State and Union Territory that acts as the State's NCORD secretariat. By 26 June 2026 it reported 10 apex, 7 executive, 266 State and 15,876 district-level meetings. Border-guarding forces and the Railway Protection Force are empowered under the NDPS Act to search, seize and arrest. A national narcotics helpline, MANAS (1933), takes anonymous reports of trafficking and passes addiction-related calls to the Social Justice Ministry's helpline, 14446. On 26 June 2026 the Home Minister released a Vision Document on Drug Control (2026–2029), built on four pillars (enforcement, intelligence and operations; precursor and synthetic drug control; demand reduction and rehabilitation; and capacity building, coordination and monitoring), and said it would be reviewed after one year. He said financial investigation must be made mandatory in major NDPS cases, that States should turn their task forces into full-time units, and that special NDPS courts should be set up. We do not say the machinery is failing, and we do not say it works. The meeting counts are public. What we did not find is what the meetings decided, who was assigned what by when, the targets in the Vision Document itself, or how many investigations reach organisers and financiers rather than carriers. The Vision Document's full text was not available to us.
Where legal chemistry and medicine meet the illegal trade
Chemicals used in industry, medicine and research can be diverted to make illegal drugs, and controlled medicines can be diverted from legitimate supply. The Narcotics Control Bureau's 2026 code of conduct separates two lists: 46 precursor chemicals scheduled as controlled substances, which are legally controlled, and an 82-chemical watch-out list of unscheduled chemicals that industry is asked to be alert to. A watch-out chemical is not illegal. The code is voluntary: it asks entities to nominate a nodal or compliance officer and keep internal checks, and it says it does not impose compliance burdens. We found no public report of how many entities have done so or how many diversion cases were found. The answer is not blanket restriction. Patients who need controlled medicines for pain or mental illness must not lose them, and honest industry must not be treated as suspect. The answer is targeted checks, with results published.
The numbers cannot yet tell us whether it is working
Registered NDPS Act cases fell from 1,09,546 in 2023 to 89,913 in 2024, arrests from 1,32,954 to 1,16,098 and the quantity seized from 13,89,725 kg to 13,30,600 kg. These are three different measures. They could mean less trafficking, fewer detections, a change in how cases are recorded, or something else, and none separates trafficking from possession for personal use or counts separate traffickers. Seizures can rise because supply rose or because policing improved. Arrests are not convictions. The most recent national survey of how many people use drugs and need help dates from 2018, and the Social Justice Ministry itself notes it could not give district-level estimates. A second national survey has been commissioned. Until then, claims about how big the problem is, or whether it is shrinking, should be treated with caution, ours included.
Help must be as reachable as enforcement is visible
The Social Justice Ministry funds prevention, counselling, treatment and rehabilitation mostly through voluntary organisations, with up to 90% of approved costs (95% in the North-Eastern States, Sikkim and Jammu and Kashmir), and says accreditation of the centres it supports is under way. Its Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan campaign reached more than 6.5 crore people in August to November 2025. That measures awareness activity, not whether fewer people use drugs or more people recover. Some helpline figures are published. A news report of an official statement of July 2026 says MANAS logged over 9.94 lakh connection attempts and connected over 47,500 calls to counselling. These are measures of reach: a connection attempt is not an answered call, a call connected to counselling is not a person treated, and neither shows recovery. We found no public district-by-district table of treatment capacity, waiting times, referral completion or whether people stay in care. Without it, a person who asks for help may find none nearby.
Protecting children and young people
Young people can be drawn into drug supply and use through pressure, exploitation or easy access. We did not find national data on supply to minors, so this page claims none. What we ask is that schools, colleges and hostels have a confidential route to report suspected supply and to seek help, that programmes be judged by whether young people are protected and helped rather than by how many awareness events were held, and that no young person is publicly identified or shamed.
What this issue leaves out
Alcohol and tobacco are not narcotics under the NDPS Act and need their own policy. The 2018 survey found alcohol the most commonly used substance, and we do not wish to blur that. This issue concerns illegal drugs, controlled-substance trafficking and substance dependence.
NDPS Act cases registered, 2022 to 2024
National totals of cases registered under the NDPS Act, as reported to the Narcotics Control Bureau: 1,02,769 in 2022, 1,09,546 in 2023 and 89,913 in 2024.
See the figures
| Cases registered | |
|---|---|
| 2022 | 1,02,769 cases |
| 2023 | 1,09,546 cases |
| 2024 | 89,913 cases |
Cases, arrests and quantities seized, 2020 to 2024
| Year | Cases registered | Arrests | Quantity seized (kg) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 55,622 | 73,841 | 10,82,511 |
| 2021 | 68,144 | 93,538 | 16,09,612 |
| 2022 | 1,02,769 | 1,26,516 | 12,53,662 |
| 2023 | 1,09,546 | 1,32,954 | 13,89,725 |
| 2024 | 89,913 | 1,16,098 | 13,30,600 |
Source: Narcotics Control Bureau, as given in a Home Ministry written Lok Sabha reply, PIB, 1 April 2025. Three different measures: none shows the size of the drug trade, the number of separate traffickers or whether enforcement is working.
Who does what
| Body | What the sources say it does | What we could not find |
|---|---|---|
| Narcotics Control Bureau | Coordinates drug-law enforcement; runs the MANAS helpline (1933); issued the 2026 precursor code of conduct | Results: organiser-level cases, convictions, compliance with the code |
| NCORD (four tiers) | Coordinates Ministries and Central and State agencies at apex, executive, State and district level; the Home Ministry reports 10 apex, 7 executive, 266 State and 15,876 district meetings by 26 June 2026 | What the meetings decided and what followed |
| State Anti-Narcotics Task Forces | One in each State and Union Territory, headed by an Additional Director General or Inspector General | Their caseloads and outcomes |
| Border-guarding forces and Railway Protection Force | Empowered under the NDPS Act to search, seize and arrest | Seizure outcomes through to prosecution |
| Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment | Funds prevention, treatment and rehabilitation; runs the 14446 helpline and Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan; commissioned the second national survey | District-wise capacity, waiting times and recovery outcomes |
Based on the sources in Facts & sources. This is a summary of stated roles, not an assessment of performance.
What the 2018 national survey estimated
| Substance | Estimated users | Estimated to need help or dependent |
|---|---|---|
| Alcohol | About 16 crore | More than 5.7 crore (harmful or dependent use) |
| Cannabis products | 3.1 crore | About 25 lakh (dependence) |
| Opioids | 2.26 crore | About 77 lakh (need help) |
Source: Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment; AIIMS survey conducted in 2018, released February 2019. An eight-year-old baseline, not a current estimate. A second national survey has been commissioned.
What is not known
This issue cannot say how big the illegal drug trade is, how many networks operate, how many cases reach organisers or financiers, how many end in conviction, how common corruption among enforcement staff is, how many people need treatment today, or what treatment capacity exists in any district. NCORD meeting counts and some helpline figures are published, but we did not find what the meetings decided, the Vision Document's targets, or data on who was treated or recovered. We have not read the Vision Document itself. The demands ask for these to be measured and shown, not assumed.
The trade-off
A tough drug policy can fail in two ways. If it is judged by arrests and seizures, it can sweep up users and carriers while the organisers go untouched. If it is judged only by treatment, it can miss the trade that keeps supplying. Aarunya's answer is to hold both to account in public, and to protect due process, medical access and privacy throughout.
What we are asking for
- 1DEMAND 1 · Reach the organisers, not just the carriers. The Vision Document speaks of dismantling networks 'from the source to the kingpin'; we ask for the scoreboard. Publish each year how many investigations targeted organisers or financiers of trafficking networks, as distinct from possession and small-quantity cases, with prosecution and final outcomes. Responsible: the Narcotics Control Bureau and State Anti-Narcotics Task Forces. Done when: an annual public report separates network-level cases from others, and shows time from arrest to conviction or acquittal.
- 2DEMAND 2 · Follow the money. The Home Minister has said financial investigation should be mandatory in major NDPS cases; we ask that it be shown to be happening. Run a financial investigation alongside trafficking cases where evidence supports it, and report in aggregate what was traced, frozen and finally forfeited under due process. Suspicion or unexplained wealth alone is not proof. Responsible: the Narcotics Control Bureau, State police and the competent financial-investigation authorities. Done when: an annual aggregate report of asset actions and their final outcomes is public, where the law allows.
- 3DEMAND 3 · Zero tolerance inside the system. Give the public and serving officers an accessible, protected route to report bribery, evidence tampering or protection of traffickers by enforcement personnel, assessed by an authority that is independent of the officer's own unit. Responsible: State governments and the Union Home Ministry. Done when: aggregate numbers of complaints, inquiries and final findings are published each year, with protection for good-faith complainants and witnesses.
- 4DEMAND 4 · Close the online and parcel routes. Strengthen lawful digital and courier investigations, with preserved evidence, protocols with courier and platform companies, and cross-State case hand-offs, under legal authority and safeguards for private communications. Responsible: the Narcotics Control Bureau, State police and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. Done when: yearly counts of darknet, cryptocurrency and parcel cases are published with outcomes, building on the 92 and 1,025 reported for 2020 to April 2024.
- 5DEMAND 5 · Stop diversion without punishing legitimate use. Publish how many entities handling scheduled precursors have appointed compliance officers under the NCB code, how many diversion cases were found, and what followed. Do the same for controlled medicines, while protecting patients who need them. Responsible: the Narcotics Control Bureau and drug regulators. Done when: an annual compliance and diversion report is public, and a patient-access check is part of it.
- 6DEMAND 6 · Test fast, warn early. Improve forensic capacity so that new synthetic substances and mixtures are identified quickly, and issue public-health alerts when serious risks are confirmed. Responsible: forensic laboratories, the Narcotics Control Bureau and health authorities. Done when: forensic turnaround times and the alerts issued are published each year.
- 7DEMAND 7 · Keep drugs away from children. Give every school, college and hostel a confidential route to report suspected supply and to get help, and investigate evidence of organised supply to minors. Judge programmes by independent evaluation of outcomes, not by event counts. Responsible: State education and police departments, with the Social Justice Ministry. Done when: the route exists, its use and outcomes are reported in aggregate without identifying any young person, and an independent evaluation is published.
- 8DEMAND 8 · Treatment people can actually reach. Publish, district by district, what treatment and rehabilitation is available, waiting times, and how many people complete and stay in care, and report separately helpline contacts, referrals made, people treated and people still in care six and twelve months later, so that reach is not mistaken for recovery. Responsible: the Social Justice Ministry, health departments and State governments. Done when: a public district-level table is updated at stated intervals, and gaps are matched with a costed plan.
- 9DEMAND 9 · Separate the trafficker from the patient. Publish how cases are classified between trafficking, commercial supply and personal use, and how many people are referred to treatment where the law allows, so that dependent people are not counted as trafficking successes. Responsible: the Narcotics Control Bureau, State police and the Union Home Ministry. Done when: the definitions and yearly counts by category are public.
- 10DEMAND 10 · Make the system report on itself. Build on the 10th apex NCORD meeting and the 2026–2029 Vision Document: publish a public implementation dashboard of its targets and timelines with progress against each; publish what NCORD meetings at national, State and district level decided, who was assigned what, and what was done; publish clear definitions of seizures, arrests, cases, prosecutions and convictions; and complete and publish the second national survey with district-level estimates. Responsible: the Union Home Ministry, the Narcotics Control Bureau, the Social Justice Ministry and the National Crime Records Bureau. Done when: the dashboard and annual reports with definitions are public, the one-year review of the Vision Document is published, and the survey results are released. These timings are Aarunya's proposal.
Facts & sources
Every number here is checkable
We link the source for each claim and record the date we last verified it. If you find something wrong, tell us and we will correct it in public.
The Home Ministry told Parliament on 24 July 2024 that the Narcotics Control Bureau had booked 92 cases involving the darknet and cryptocurrencies, and that all drug-law enforcement agencies had reported 1,025 cases involving parcels and couriers, during 2020 to April 2024.
Ministry of Home Affairs, written reply; PIB, 24 July 2024 · parliamentary record · verified 2026-10-29
Verified
Counts of cases, with year-wise detail in the reply's annexure. They cover 2020 to April 2024 for the whole period, not each year, and the 92 (Narcotics Control Bureau) and 1,025 (all drug-law agencies) have different scope. They do not measure the size of online drug markets.
The Home Ministry says NCORD operates at apex, executive, State and district level, with a dedicated Anti-Narcotics Task Force in each State and Union Territory acting as its secretariat. In a Home Ministry release of 26 June 2026 the Home Minister cited 15,876 district-level, 266 State-level and 7 executive meetings, with the 10th apex meeting held that day. A February 2026 reply gave 9 apex, 6 executive, 253 State and 12,471 district meetings.
Ministry of Home Affairs; PIB, 26 June 2026 and 10 February 2026 · government document · verified 2026-10-29
Verified
Counts of meetings held. The releases do not say what was decided, what follow-up was assigned or what outcomes resulted. A later release we could not locate may give higher counts.
Cases registered, arrests made and quantity of drugs seized under the NDPS Act by all drug-law enforcement agencies, as reported to the Narcotics Control Bureau: 2022, 1,02,769 cases, 1,26,516 arrests, 12,53,662 kg; 2023, 1,09,546 cases, 1,32,954 arrests, 13,89,725 kg; 2024, 89,913 cases, 1,16,098 arrests, 13,30,600 kg. The release also says the Department of Revenue has scheduled 134 narcotic drugs, 173 psychotropic substances and 45 controlled substances under the NDPS Act.
Ministry of Home Affairs, 'Steps to Check Drug Trafficking'; PIB, 1 April 2025 · parliamentary record · verified 2026-10-29
Verified
A written Lok Sabha reply. Cases, arrests and quantities are different indicators. They do not show the size of the drug market, the number of separate traffickers or whether enforcement is more effective, and they do not separate trafficking from personal possession. Annexure-I also gives 2020 and 2021.
The Narcotics Control Bureau's Code of Conduct for Preventing Diversion of Precursor Chemicals lists 46 precursor chemicals notified as controlled substances up to 1 June 2026 (Annexure A) and an 82-chemical 'watch-out' list of chemicals not currently scheduled but with potential for misuse (Annexure B). It says it seeks voluntary compliance, and asks entities dealing with such chemicals to nominate a nodal or compliance officer and keep internal procedures and audits.
Narcotics Control Bureau, Code of Conduct for Preventing Diversion of Precursor Chemicals (2026) · government document · verified 2026-10-29
Verified
Scheduled chemicals are legally controlled; watch-out chemicals are not illegal; the code's measures are voluntary guidance. It reports no compliance rates or diversion cases. Statutory duties for scheduled chemicals come from the NDPS Act and its rules, which we did not read.
The Narcotics Control Bureau's MANAS platform (helpline 1933, portal, email and UMANG app) accepts anonymous reports of drug trafficking, peddling and illegal cultivation; people affected by addiction can get counselling and support, with calls transferred to the Social Justice Ministry's helpline 14446.
Press Information Bureau factsheet on MANAS · government document · verified 2026-10-29
Verified
A description of how the service works. Usage figures are in the next item. We found no public data on how many callers reached treatment or recovered.
A news report of an official statement of 2 July 2026 said MANAS (launched 18 July 2024) had recorded over 9.94 lakh connection attempts, 2,65,673 drug-related inputs on its portal as of June 2026, over 16,200 actionable drug-trafficking intelligence inputs, and had connected over 47,500 calls to counselling.
IANS, 2 July 2026 (citing an official statement) · media report · verified 2026-10-29
Provisional
We did not find these figures in the Press Information Bureau document we read, so they rest on the news report. A connection attempt is not an answered call, a counselling connection is not a person treated, and none shows recovery.
On 26 June 2026 the Home Minister released a Vision Document on Drug Control (2026–2029) at the 10th apex NCORD meeting. The Home Ministry release names four pillars: enforcement, intelligence and operations; precursor and synthetic drug control; demand reduction and rehabilitation (also called demand and harm reduction); and capacity building and coordination (also called capacity building, coordination and monitoring). It says targets and timelines were set for each sub-pillar and that the plan would be reviewed after one year. The Minister said financial investigation must be made mandatory in major NDPS cases.
Ministry of Home Affairs; PIB, 26 June 2026 · government document · verified 2026-10-29
Verified
Verified as what the release says. We did not see the Vision Document itself, its sub-pillars, targets or deadlines, and the release words some pillars two ways. A statement of intent is not a result.
India's first national survey on the extent and pattern of substance use, conducted by AIIMS's National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre in 2018 and released in February 2019, estimated about 16 crore people consuming alcohol, 3.1 crore using cannabis products and 2.26 crore using opioids; more than 5.7 crore affected by harmful or dependent alcohol use, about 25 lakh by cannabis dependence, and about 77 lakh needing help for opioid use.
Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment · government document · verified 2026-10-29
Verified
The most recent national estimate we found, now eight years old, not a current figure; survey estimates carry uncertainty. We did not read the 2019 report, and a PIB factsheet states the survey's opioid findings differently (for example about 2.8 crore dependent on opioids), so the original report should be checked before these are relied on.
The Social Justice Ministry has asked the AIIMS National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre to carry out a second national survey that would give national, State and district-level estimates. It says the 2019 survey gave national and State figures but was not designed for district-level data. It also states that organisations receiving grants must be registered and recommended by the State, and that accreditation of grant-in-aid institutions through the National Accreditation Board for Hospitals is under way.
Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment; PIB, 10 March 2026 · government document · verified 2026-10-29
Verified
A statement of what is under way. We found no publication date for the second survey's results.
The Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan awareness campaign (1 August to November 2025) reached more than 6.5 crore people, according to the Social Justice Ministry.
Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment; PIB, 10 March 2026 · government document · verified 2026-10-29
Verified
A reach figure for awareness activities. It does not show whether fewer people use drugs or more people recover.
Under the Ministry's scheme for prevention of alcoholism and substance abuse, financial assistance of up to 90% of approved expenditure (95% for the North-Eastern States, Sikkim and Jammu and Kashmir) goes to voluntary organisations and other eligible agencies to run Integrated Rehabilitation Centres for Addicts, resource and training centres and awareness-cum-de-addiction camps.
Department of Social Justice and Empowerment, scheme page · government document · verified 2026-10-29
Verified
A funding rule. It says nothing about how many centres exist, where, or how well they work.
Questions
What does zero tolerance mean here?
Firm, lawful action against organised drug trafficking, the corruption that protects it and the illicit money behind it, and against selling drugs to children. It is not a promise to jail everyone who uses drugs. A person dependent on drugs needs treatment, and the demands ask for the data to show which cases are which.
Are you accusing any State, community or official?
No. We name no person, company, community or State as responsible for drug trafficking. We ask for a public record of what enforcement and treatment achieve, and for a route to report misconduct by anyone, including enforcement personnel.
How big is the drug problem in India?
We do not know with confidence. The latest national survey we found is from 2018 (released 2019), and a second one has been commissioned. Case counts and seizures show what agencies recorded, not how much trade exists.
Do fewer registered cases in 2024 mean progress?
Not necessarily. Registered NDPS Act cases fell from 1,09,546 in 2023 to 89,913 in 2024, but the figure does not separate trafficking from personal possession, and a fall can reflect less trafficking, fewer detections or different recording.
Is this about alcohol and tobacco too?
No. They are not narcotics under the NDPS Act and need their own policy. This issue is about illegal drugs, controlled-substance trafficking and dependence.
Will honest patients and pharmacies be treated as suspects?
They must not be. Patients who need controlled medicines for pain or mental illness must keep access, and businesses that follow the rules should not face blanket restrictions. Demand 5 asks for targeted checks and a patient-access test.
Does India already have a national strategy?
Yes. The Home Minister released a Vision Document on Drug Control (2026–2029) on 26 June 2026, with four pillars, and says it sets targets and timelines. Aarunya does not say the government has no plan. We ask for a public dashboard so that anyone can see progress against it.
Is this already public?
Partly. Case, arrest and seizure counts, NCORD meeting counts, helpline figures and schemes are in official releases. What we could not find is what NCORD meetings decided, how many cases reach organisers, how many end in conviction, the Vision Document's targets, or district-wise treatment capacity.
How do I report drug trafficking, or find help?
The Narcotics Control Bureau's MANAS helpline, 1933, takes anonymous reports of trafficking and passes addiction-related calls to the Social Justice Ministry's helpline, 14446. If someone is in immediate danger, call emergency services. We have not verified State-wise treatment centres, so we do not list any.
Are these demands party commitments?
Yes. They are the commitments Aarunya Swaraj Party will advocate for. They are not existing law, and no deadlines are set because none has been costed.
Where this stands
The whole process, in public
We publish each step as it happens — including the steps where nothing happens.
Happened. First national survey on substance use
Conducted by AIIMS's National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre; the report was released in February 2019.
Happened. Home Ministry reports darknet and parcel trafficking cases
92 darknet and cryptocurrency cases and 1,025 parcel and courier cases, 2020 to April 2024.
Source: Press Information Bureau
Happened. Home Ministry gives national NDPS case, arrest and seizure counts
Cases, arrests and quantities seized by all drug-law agencies for 2020 to 2024, in a written Lok Sabha reply.
Source: Press Information Bureau
Happened. Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan campaign
The Social Justice Ministry says it reached more than 6.5 crore people.
Source: Press Information Bureau
Happened. Second national survey under way
The Ministry says the AIIMS centre has been asked to carry out a second survey with district-level estimates. No results date is given.
Source: Press Information Bureau
Happened. 46 precursor chemicals scheduled
The number notified as controlled substances as of this date, according to the Narcotics Control Bureau's 2026 code of conduct.
Source: Narcotics Control Bureau
Happened. Vision Document on Drug Control (2026–2029) released
Released at the 10th apex NCORD meeting, with four pillars and a one-year review. The document's text was not available to us.
Source: Press Information Bureau
What this issue does not claim
It does not claim that any named person, company, community, State or official is involved in drug trafficking, that corruption among enforcement staff is widespread, how large the drug trade is, or that fewer registered cases mean less trafficking. It is not about alcohol or tobacco. The demands are commitments Aarunya Swaraj Party will advocate for, not existing law or legal requirements, and an arrest, seizure or allegation is not a conviction.
Who is behind this
Aarunya Issues is an initiative of Aarunya Swaraj Party, being built by students who believe that public problems deserve evidence, accountability and action.
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