High-level meeting chaired by Home Minister Priyank Kharge: Orders strict action for a drug-free Karnataka.

Bengaluru, June 22, 2026: The State Government will take the most stringent measures to completely eradicate the drug network and protect the younger generation from this scourge, said the Honorable Minister of Home, Information and Technology and e-Governance, Priyank Kharge.
He was speaking while presiding over a review meeting held at Vikas Soudha today in the presence of the government’s Chief Secretaries, senior police officers and heads of various departments.
The key instructions given by the Minister in the meeting and the key points of departmental coordination are as follows:
• Widespread awareness: Awareness needs to be created about the ill effects of drugs not only in urban areas but also at the rural level. In this regard, he said that widespread awareness and awareness programs should be organized through schools, colleges, factories and Gram Panchayats at the rural level.
• Strict action against suppliers: He directed the police department to take strict legal action against the miscreants behind the supply of narcotics and their networks without any hesitation and to strictly enforce the relevant laws.
• Technology-based cooperation between departments: Drug control is not the responsibility of just one department. Various departments including Home (Police), Higher Education, Primary Education, Medical Education, Personnel, Social Welfare, Rural Development, etc. should work in coordination with each other. For this, the state’s advanced technology and data systems should be utilized.
• Use of connectivity up to the Gram Panchayat level: Under the ambitious ‘Karnataka State Wide Area Network’ (KSWAN 3.0) project of the e-Governance Department, a secure and tight connectivity network is being extended to all the Gram Panchayats (GPs) of the state. He directed to expedite the process of departmental oversight and awareness creation at the rural level by using this technology infrastructure.
• Complaint Management and Public Engagement: The state’s improved public grievance redressal system ‘Janaspandana’ (iPGRS) platform will be further strengthened to enable the public to provide information on sale or use of narcotics. He directed senior officers to map the complaints raised by citizens with the grassroots level officers and take strict action within a strict SLA (Service Level Agreement) and time frame.
• Simplification of Procedures (BPR): In support of the drug-free campaign, the ‘Business Process Re-engineering’ activities being carried out in various departments should be further accelerated in the Home (Police) and Education departments, and the data exchange and verification process between departments should be simplified.
“Not only law enforcement but also the public, the youth community and the proper use of technology are essential to build a drug-free society. Our government is committed to building a drug-free Karnataka by coordinating various departments with the law enforcement system of the Home Department,” Minister Priyank Kharge said in the meeting.
The meeting was attended by Chief Secretary to the Government, Mrs. Shalini Rajneesh, Director General of Police, Dr. M.A. Salim, Additional Chief Secretary, Higher Education Department, Dr. V. Rashmi and senior officials.