By IANS,
Ludhiana : Congress MP and Punjab Youth Congress (PYC) president Ravnit Singh Bittu Friday ended his six-day-old hunger strike Friday following a written assurance by Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on setting up a drug prevention board to combat rampant drug abuse in the state.
Bittu started his indefinite hunger strike Sunday – going without food for over 120 hours – along with his supporters here.
Punjab assembly Deputy Speaker Satpal Gosain brought the chief minister’s letter that agreed to the major demand of Bittu and his supporters that a drug prevention board should be set up to curb drug abuse, especially among youth, in the state.
Bittu had a glass of coconut water from Harnam Kaur Nimmo, resident of Maqbulpura locality in Amritsar, who had lost six of her children to drugs abuse.
The chief minister gave an assurance that the new board would be set up within one and a half months.
Talking to the media after ending his fast, Bittu said he would closely monitor the setting up of the new board. He said a committee of the state assembly, comprising members of all political parties, should also be constituted to monitor steps being taken to curb drugs abuse in the state.
“Stringent laws should be made so that there is fear in the minds of drug peddlers and even medical shop owners,” Bittu said.