States » NorthPosted at: Oct 5 2026 10:22PM


Harsimrat launches ‘Mawan-Dhiyan Di Fauj’: Women to identify drug smugglers, protectors across Punjab

Chandigarh, Oct 5 (UNI) Shiromani Akali Dal leader and Bathinda MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal on Monday launched a women-led campaign against drug trafficking in Punjab, calling on women to identify alleged drug peddlers as well as those shielding them.
Badal launched the “Mai Bhago Mawan-Dhian Di Fauj” campaign at a women's gathering in Sri Muktsar Sahib, saying women could play a central role in combating Punjab's drug problem by providing information from their villages and neighbourhoods.
Under the initiative, women have been asked to submit information through forms identifying people allegedly involved in selling or trafficking drugs and those suspected of shielding them. Women could also join the campaign through a missed-call number issued by the organisers, she added.
“We have to identify not only those selling drugs but also those who are protecting them,” Badal said, according to remarks made at the event.
Badal said that if the Akali Dal returned to power in Punjab, it would establish a special task force headed by a woman Director General of Police to act on information collected through the campaign.
Urging women to form local groups, or “jathas”, in villages and neighbourhoods to monitor drug-related activity and raise concerns, she appealed them to join the campaign irrespective of political affiliation, saying Punjab's drug problem could eventually affect any family.
“The fire that is burning someone else's home today can reach your home tomorrow,” she said, on the need to protect future generations from drugs.
Badal also promised tougher action against drug traffickers if the SAD formed the next government, saying the party would seek stringent legal provisions against those convicted of serious drug offences.
She said the proposed measures would include keeping convicted drug traffickers behind bars for up to 10 years without bail. Any such measure would, however, require legislation and would be subject to existing constitutional and criminal-law safeguards.
The Bathinda MP also attacked Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann's Aam Aadmi Party government over its financial assistance scheme for women and alleged corruption during its tenure.
Badal said an SAD government would set up a special commission to investigate alleged corruption under the AAP administration and seek recovery of public money found to have been illegally diverted.
“The women of Punjab will have to come forward and play a decisive role,” Badal said, referring to families that have lost children to drug abuse.
Senior Shiromani Akali Dal leaders, including Stree Akali Dal president Hargobind Kaur and Muktsar constituency in-charge Kanwarjit Singh Rozy Barkandi, attended the event.
UNI NB MCR
Tags: #Harsimrat launches ‘Mawan-Dhiyan Di Fauj’: Women to identify drug smugglers# protectors across Punjab
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