Seraikela-Kharsawan Police Launch Campaign to Prevent Poppy Crop Cultivation and Promote Alternative Farming

Jamshedpur: The Seraikela-Kharsawan district police have launched a drive to spread awareness and stop the innocent villagers from cultivating the poppy crop ahead of the season to sow the illegal crop.The drive, which commenced on Friday, will involve the civil society at the panchayat level to inform the farming community that cultivating the poppy crop is a punishable offence and will land the crop cultivator in jail. The villagers will be encouraged to take up alternative crops like carrot, spinach, cabbage and brinjal for cultivation.Besides, healthcare experts will inform the villagers about the ill effects on the body upon consuming opium and other narcotic substances.The police have said school teachers, panchayat heads, village samiti members, police and block administration officials would be involved in the campaign to prevent the villagers from growing poppy.“Initiated by the police, the drive is a people’s campaign to build an informed society where villagers will be educated on what alternative ways they can do to earn livelihoods and abandon poppy crop cultivation,” SP Mukesh Kumar Lunayat said.

Further, a physical survey will be carried out in the vulnerable villages to identify the people who are not covered by the livelihood and empowerment schemes of the central and state govts, and accordingly steps will be taken to benefit them with the scheme so that they don’t get lured by the forces that are behind the poppy crop cultivation.The police have identified some specific villages in the Kuchai, Kharsawan, Kandra, Chowka, Ichagarh and Tiruldih police station areas for an effective execution of the drive.Notably, in 2024-25, the district police destroyed poppy crops on 678.96 acres of land.According to the police, the drive will continue till poppy crop cultivation is totally stopped and the villagers successfully take up alternative crop cultivation and the unemployed are linked to welfare, livelihood and empowerment schemes.