An initiative by the residents of a village in North Dinajpur to stop the drug menace by holding shalishi sabhas and sending abusers to deaddiction centres has drawn both praise and criticism.

The people of Bidhibari, a village under the Itahar panchayat of the district located around 22km from here, have formed an anti-drug committee comprising youths of the village.

“The committee members are monitoring the activities of suspected drug abusers, a section of whom also double as drug peddlers. They are also capturing these peddlers. Then, we are sending these people to the drug de-addiction centre,” said Zakir Hossain, a schoolteacher based in the village.

He said this initiative came about as many youths started abusing and peddling drugs in the village.

“Many people started abusing and peddling drugs and more youths started getting addicted. We had caught some of them and handed them over to the police, but still the prevalence of drug peddlers could not be stopped in the village. That is why we finally took this initiative of forming an anti-drug committee,” Hossain added.

The initiative, however, does not end here. Once a drug peddler or abuser is caught, the villagers convene a shalishi sabha and impose a fine on the person.

For example, on November 25, members of the anti-drug committee caught a drug peddler from the same area red-handed while he was selling drugs.

“We engaged a youth to pose as a drug abuser and approach the person. As the peddler tried to sell the narcotic to him, we caught him,” said villager Majedur Rahaman.

On the same day, a shalishi sabha was convened and a fine of ₹50,000 was imposed on the youth. He was then sent to the drug de-addiction centre.

From the fine, the villagers handed over ₹5,000 to the youth who had posed as a potential buyer.

“We rewarded him for his act. The rest of the money has been kept to help those who are in financial distress and need help. We will assist if any student needs any help to continue his or her studies or to a person who needs money for his or her daughter’s marriage,” said Rahaman.

He said that after this practice was introduced, the prevalence of peddlers started to get reduced in the village.

The practice, he said, also encouraged people of some neighbouring villages to follow suit.

“We will continue this drive till our area becomes narcotic-free,” the villager added.

An official of the North Dinajpur district administration said the initiative by villagers to nab drug abusers and peddlers and send them to de-addiction centres deserved appreciation.

“Such initiative will help in reducing the use of narcotics,” he said.

Kaushik Bhattacharya, a representative of Muktir Kandari, a social organisation based in Raiganj, however, differed.

“The villagers cannot impose fines on any person and collect money. We do not support this idea of holding shalishi sabhas," he said.