Message from the Executive Board

Respected Members,

The Executive Board of the All India Political Parties Meet being simulated at IIT
Bhubaneshwar Model United Nations 2023 welcomes your participation in this conference.
We plan to channelize our efforts in making this a big learning experience.

Considering the nature of the conference, we look forward to making this more of a learning
engagement while still keeping up the spirit of competition and the essence of debate. We
expect the debate to comprise of substantive points, logical analysis of facts and suggestions
and advancement of political opinion. The meet is an endeavour to emulate the socio-political
realities of India by bringing to light the various layers of polity and governance. With this
committee, we aim to give you an insight into the complex political realities, the powers and
responsibility of a stakeholder towards the Nation and above all bring out the leader within
you.

The members should remember that not only a thorough and in-depth research but a sense of
political acumen and lobbying skills will be their key to success in this meeting. You should
not only restrict your research to the recent developments but also dig the history and get
acquainted with the whole concept since the agenda in hand is a crucial one. The portfolios are
expected to be well versed with their party policies and understand the alignments prevailing
in the country.

To clear any contentions, the participants need not let thoughts about our expectations be a
hurdle in their research or give way to any fear regarding fulfilment of their objectives. The
only thing the Executive Board will put strong emphasis on, would be helping you understand
the national polity, logical analysis, and argumentative debating. But do kindly note, that a
larger part of the proceedings shall include discussions by various methods laid down in the
rules of procedure and discussions on the proposed documents, if any. Participants shall be
tested on their knowledge and arguments, over the various topics discussed in the discussion
hours and also the deliberations before putting any proposed document to vote.

This guide, although very comprehensive and factual, provides a basic idea of the topics
likely to be argued upon and may vary from those of the respective party or portfolio's
ideologies. In no way is this guide to confine a participant's research. The guide consists of
subjective and factual data with legal arguments, but this is just to make the participants
understand the ways in which they must make their addresses.

We expect you to revert to us for any help with understanding or proceeding with the research,
in case you have any doubts or contentions till the end of the conference. Wishing you the very
best,
Avyakt Mishra (Moderator)
Aditi Khuntia (Deputy Moderator)
Baisakhi Priyadarshini (Scribe)

1
 Deliberating upon the prevalence of Drug Cartels & trafficking in India
with special reference to the impact on youth & legislation

Introduction:

Drug use in early youth can affect development, and children and young people who use
drugs are at higher risk of health harm. It is well known, moreover, that initiation of drug use
in adolescence can lead to longer-term use and dependence more readily than initiation in
adulthood. As such, there is considerable agreement on the importance of prevention and
appropriate targeted interventions for children and young people who use drugs. All are
agreed, moreover, that the exploitation of children by organised criminal groups in the drug
trade is to be fought, and that drug-related violence is enormously damaging for children and
young people.

India is wedged between the world’s two largest areas of illicit opium production, the Golden
Crescent and the Golden Triangle. This proximity has traditionally been viewed as a source
of vulnerability since it has made India both a destination and a transit route for opiates
produced in these regions. In addition, various psychotropic and pharmaceutical preparations
and precursor chemicals produced domestically as well as in various parts of the world are
also trafficked through Indian territory. The two-way illegal flow of these drugs and
chemicals not only violates India's borders but also poses a significant threat to national
security. The nexus between drug traffickers, organised criminal networks and terrorists has
created a force powerful enough to cause instability in the country. Money generated through
the drug trade has been used to fund various insurgent and terrorist movements. For instance,
it has been estimated that money generated from the illegal sale of narcotics accounted for 15
per cent of the finances of militant groups in Jammu and Kashmir.

In 2004, UNODC and the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, jointly release the
National Survey on the Extent, Pattern and Trends of Drug Abuse in India, the first of its
kind. It showed that the number of chronic substance-dependent individuals were as follows:
10 million (alcohol), 2.3 million (cannabis) and 0.5 million (opiates). The survey not only
points to the problem of India’s population having twice the global (and Asian) average
prevalence of illicit opiate consumption, but also shows that the treatment resources available
are not commensurate with the ‘burden of work’ (number of dependent drug users) requiring
immediate treatment.

Drug Abuse in India

June 26 every year is celebrated as International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit
Trafficking every year. It is an exercise undertaken by the world community to
sensitise the people in general and the youth in particular, to the menace of drugs. The picture
is grim if the world statistics on the drugs scenario is taken into account. With a turnover of

2
around $500 billion, it is the third-largest business in the world, next to petroleum and arms
trade. About 190 million people all over the world consume one drug or the other. Drug
addiction causes immense human distress and the illegal production and distribution of drugs
have spawned crime and violence worldwide. Today, there is no part of the world that is free
from the curse of drug trafficking and drug addiction. Millions of drug addicts, all over the
world, are leading miserable lives, between life and death.

India too caught in this vicious circle of drug abuse, the numbers of drug addicts are
increasing day by day. According to a UN report, One million heroin addicts are registered in
India, and unofficially there are as many as five million. What started off as casual use among
a minuscule population of high-income group youth in the metro has permeated to all
sections of society. Inhalation of heroin alone has given way to intravenous drug use, that too
in combination with other sedatives and painkillers. This has increased the intensity of the
effect, hastened the process of addiction and complicated the process of recovery. Cannabis,
heroin, and Indian-produce pharmaceutical drugs are the most frequently abused drugs in
India.

Cannabis products, often called charas, bhang, or ganja, are abused throughout the country
because it has attained some amount of religious sanctity because of
its association with some Hindu deities.

The International Narcotics Control Board in its 2002 report released in Vienna pointed out
that in India persons addicted to opiates are shifting their drug of choice from opium to
heroin. According to a 2018 report by United Nations-backed International Narcotics
Control Board (INCB), India is one of the major hubs for illicit trading of drugs. The drugs
range from cannabis to more recent prescription drugs like tramadol.

According to an official of the Red Cross Drug Deaddiction and Rehabilitation Centre,
Gurdaspur, “The geographical location of the district makes it prone to trafficking of many
types of drugs. This affects not only the dealers but also the people, as the drugs are easily
available and are cheaper.”

These drugs reach into India through Punjab via the India-Pakistan border, or through a more
circuitous route wherein they first reach Africa and then come to Delhi and Punjab. The
rivers and streams along the border are preferred routes for smugglers to slide in drugs as
they are not easily tracked by the Indian forces.

Kashmir has also become a new source of drugs for Punjab. In Kashmir, cannabis is locally
cultivated whereas heroin and cocaine enter the Valley through the Line of Control which is
then transported to other regions. According to a 2019 AIIMS survey on the magnitude and
extent of substance use in India, there were 31 million cannabis users in the country among
those aged 10–75, while the number of opiate users was reported to be 23 million. The survey
also indicated approximately 11.8 million people are current users of sedatives and inhalants.

3
Around 13 percent of those involved in drug and substance abuse in India are below 20 years
of age, which calls for stepping up community intervention and preventive mechanisms
targeting adolescents, said a UN report in 2022.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)’s World Drug Report 2022
estimates that around 284 million people use drugs worldwide. The report also claims India is
one of the world’s single-largest opiate markets. In India, youth is among the most impacted
by the menace. More than 60% of all illicit drugs seized in India are from Punjab. According
to a study, most addicts are between the age group of 15 and 35 and many are unemployed.

Consequences of Drug Abuse on the Youth and Children

● Social consequences

When the young and adolescent population of the country indulge themselves into drug or
substance use they lose their power of decision making and end up making choices that can
cost them their fortune. The younger generation using drugs will increase the crime rate at a
great pace; they might want to steal money for buying more drugs, they will not be able to
judge their own decisions. Their family members may face difficulties with society and also
with handling the drug abuser in a way to make them sober again. The mental trauma felt by
them is tremendous. This can also cost them their education by letting them waste their
academic opportunities. The drugs once consumed tends to fail the capacity of risk analysis
of a person which leads them to commit serious crimes such as violence, car accidents,
assaults, STDs while they exchange injections or tuberculosis in that case, rape etc. It also
costs the person his development, learning or social relations. It is beyond our criminal justice
system to understand such crimes.

● Economic Consequence

They are least capable of becoming a human resource adding up to the GDP or the
development or growth of the country. They lead the country to bear losses which could have
been a productive addition to the growth. Moreover, the government has to bear the costs of
channelizing their funds for establishing the rehabilitation centres for them to sober up, and
this not only affects the government but it also levers an economic liability on the shoulders
of the family as they have to bear the cost for their admission in the rehabilitation centres.

Beyond the social and economic consequences, there are also legal, psychological, and
traumatic consequences that not only affect the person consuming the drugs but their family
and the society and in turn the entire country.

4
Current Legal Framework

● Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985: India is a party to the three
United Nations drug conventions – the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs
(1961 Convention), the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances (1971
Convention) and the 1988 Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and
Psychotropic Substances (1988 Convention). Domestic legislation to give effect to
these treaties was introduced only in the 1980s when the ‘grace period’ for abolishing
non-medical use of cannabis and opium under the 1961 Convention expired.
Exercising its powers to make law for the country for implementing “any treaty,
agreement or convention or decision made at international conference”, the Indian
Parliament passed the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (NDPS
Act) hastily, without much debate. The NDPS Act came into force on 14 November
1985, replacing the Opium Acts and the Dangerous Drugs Act. The 1940 Drugs and
Cosmetics Act, 1940, however, continues to apply.

The Act was amended in 1989, 2001 and more recently in 2014.

Narcotic drugs include:

• Cannabis: plant; resin or charas and its concentrated variant called hashish; dried
flowering or fruiting tops of the plant, that is, ganja and any mixture of charas or ganja.
Importantly, bhang or the cannabis leaf is excluded (in accordance with the 1961 Convention)
and regulated through state excise laws

• Coca: plant: leaf; derivatives include cocaine and any preparation containing 0.1% of
cocaine

• Opium: poppy plant; poppy straw; concentrated poppy straw; juice of opium poppy;
mixture of opium poppy juice; preparations with 0.2% morphine; derivatives include heroin,
morphine, codeine, thebaine, etc.

● The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment being the nodal Ministry for
drug demand reduction has taken the following steps:

I. A National Action Plan for Drug Demand Reduction (NAPDDR) for 2018-2025 which
aims at reduction of adverse consequences of drug abuse through a multi-pronged strategy
involving education, deaddiction and rehabilitation of affected individuals and their families.
It focuses on preventive education, awareness generation, identification, counselling,
treatment and rehabilitation of drug dependent persons. It also envisages training and
capacity building of the service providers through collaborative efforts of the Central and
State Governments and Non-Governmental Organisations.

5
II. The Ministry also implements a Scheme for Prevention of Alcoholism and Substance
(Drug) Abuse since 1985-86. Under this scheme, financial assistance up to 90% of the
approved expenditure is given to Voluntary Organizations and other eligible agencies for
setting up/running Integrated Rehabilitation Centre for Addicts. In the case of North Eastern
States, Sikkim and Jammu & Kashmir, the quantum of assistance is 95% of the total
admissible expenditure.

● A National Centre for Drug Abuse Prevention has also been set up by the National
Institute of Social Defence to provide technical support to the government on policies
relating to substance abuse prevention and providing services for substance demand
reduction.

● The Minister for Social Justice & Empowerment Shri Thawaarchand Gehlot launched
the website for the Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan (NMBA) on the occasion of
International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking on 26 June 2021, which
is observed worldwide to strengthen action and cooperation in achieving the goal of a
sustainable world free of substance abuse. The entire world is facing the menace of
drug addiction which has a devastating impact on the addict, individual, family and a
large section of society.

● The launch of Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan (NMBA) is for 272 Districts across 32
State/Union Territories that have been identified as the most vulnerable in terms of
usage of drugs in the country. These vulnerable districts were identified on the basis
of findings from the Comprehensive National Survey and the inputs provided by the
Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB). According to the National Comprehensive Survey
conducted by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, there are more than
60 million drug users in the country of which a large number of users are in the age
group of 10-17 years.

● India is a signatory of the following international treaties and conventions to combat

the menace of Drug Abuse

1. United Nations (UN) Convention on Narcotic Drugs (1961)

2. United Nations (UN) Convention on Psychotropic Substances (1971).
3. United Nations (UN) Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and
Psychotropic Substances (1988)
4. Transnational Convention Crime (2000)

● In 2002, the National AIDS Prevention and Control Policy (NAPCP) of the
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare supported ‘harm minimization’ as a strategy
to prevent HIV among people who inject drugs while simultaneously aiming towards
the reduction and eventually the cessation of drug use itself.

6
 ● In 2012, when the National Policy on Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances
was introduced.

Points for consideration

In response to the policy challenges outlined above, the following reform possibilities are
proposed to the government of India for consideration:

• Review the harsh and disproportionate sentencing structure under the NDPS Act,
and remove the criminalization of drug use and imposition of the death penalty for
drugs offences

• Ensure that the legal provisions on drug treatment are adequately applied in a way
that enables people who use drugs to access evidence-based treatment services without the
threat of punitive sanctions such as criminal prosecution and imprisonment

• Adopt and enforce minimum quality standards to ensure that the treatment programs are
scientifically proven and respect the human rights of people dependent on drugs

• Expand access to narcotic and psychotropic medicines necessary for treating a range of
medical conditions, with practical safeguards against illicit diversion

• Improve coordination between government departments with a clear remit for each state
agency on developing and implementing policies and practices relating to drugs

• Consult with civil society groups, including representatives of people who use drugs,
medical professionals, academics and patient groups specialising in drugs issues in drug
policy formulation

• Establish regular data collection on drug use, dependence and related health implications
such as HIV and viral hepatitis prevalence amongst people who inject drugs.

Suggested Links

● https://www.unodc.org
● https://www.nhp.gov.in/disease/non-communicable-disease/substance-abus
● https://pib.gov.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=188688
● https://www.unodc.org/pdf/india/publications/south_Asia_Regional_Profile_Sept
_2005/10_india.pdf
● https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6755770/

7
 Rules of Procedure

Important Terminology:

1. Opening statements on the issue: is a formal stand of the portfolio that the stakeholder
represents. We shall move to opening statements once the quorum is set

2. Public Session: Covered by the Media (Press.)

3. Private Session: Coverage restricted subjectively on the discretion of the Executive

Board.

4. Starred chit is a normal chit where in the member can ask or address certain issues to the
fellow member with whom the member sending the chit agrees or disagrees. The reply is
mandatory and to be sent in writing. When a member has a very important question to ask
to any of the members but the other member or his party is evading that particular issue in
the debate, in such circumstances the member seeking to ask question about the
controversy in hand can send a starred chit to the fellow member to whom the question is
asked via moderator

5. Un-Starred Chits: Any other chit that could contain substantive information, that needs
to be sent to a fellow member or to the Executive Board is a normal chit, unlike the other
two, this need not be in form of a question and can also be sent only to the Executive
Board as well.

6. Plea to follow up: is a right given to the member if according to him the answer given is
not satisfactory or appropriate and further clarification on the issue at hand is required.

Opening Session: -

1. It is a type of Public Session.

2. In this session “statements on the issue” will be taken from members of various political
parties and civil-society activists (if any). However, limited number of statements shall be
taken depending upon urgency, necessity, diversity & relevance and recognition of
members in this regard will again be upon the discretion of the executive board.
3. Default time duration for an opening statement is two minutes (120 seconds.) Exceeding
the time limit will immediately subject the floor holder to be called out by the moderator
of the session.
4. Each opening statement will be followed by 2 questions each pertaining to the current
speech.

8
Public Session:

1. This session will be a formal session wherein the members are expected to follow the
Rules of Procedure strictly without any exceptions. The members will be recognized
at the discretion of the Executive Board and there will be no cross- talks or exchange
of any statements between the members without the Chairperson’s permission.
2. Further, the members of the committee will send chits to the Chairperson which shall
mention the sub-issue that is to be discussed in the committee on a given agenda.
Once the moderator has received the chits, the sub-issues will be voted upon in no
definite order and upon arriving at the sub-issue to be discussed, the committee will
discuss upon that particular issue. Nonetheless, should the Executive Board feel that a
relevant sub – issue has not been voted for discussion, they may at their discretion
pass it and the same shall be discussed.
3. The aforementioned discussion will mostly follow the pattern of a moderated caucus
as observed in the general MUN R.O.Ps.
4. Time period for the individual speeches shall be upon the stakeholders.
5. Cross Questioning not allowed.

Note: “Sub-Issue” is the further bifurcation of the main agenda. The issues that are related to
the main agenda and are Sub-topics to the main issue are called sub-issues. Example: -
During the discussion on the agenda of Land Acquisition, a sub issue can be rights of
farmers, hampering socialistic ideology or need for industrial growth etc.

Private Session:

1. Moderated Private Session

2. Un-moderated Private Session

A. Moderated Private Session will be a formal session but not as formal as public session.
The members will just be expected to follow the guidelines of a formal session but a strict
adherence is not expected from the members. However, the members will not be allowed to
leave their place and roam around in the committee. The members (if they wish to) can raise
objections upon the other fellow member’s statements and may even express their
disagreement in between. Although the members are requested not to be too aggressive
against the fellow member, in a moderated private session, the members will debate on the
agenda as a whole and the recognition will not be discretionary as per the Executive Board. It
is similar to the Zero hour under the Lok Sabha Rules of Procedure. No time limit is
prescribed for each speaker as such.

B. Un-Moderated Private Session will be a completely informal session wherein the members
can leave their places and do lobbying in the committee to gather more proponents of their
ideology on the issue in hand. It is similar to the unmoderated caucus as per the UNA USA
rules of procedure.

9
Points: -

1. Point of order- This may be introduced in order to complain about improper

parliamentary procedures; however, the Chairperson may overrule the point. This can
also be used in case of a factual error.
2. Point of Parliamentary Inquiry- This may be used to ask any doubts regarding the
rules of procedure or similar things to the Presiding Officer.
3. Point of Information- It essentially means to ask any questions regarding the speech
of a concerned minister. (Suspended during public session)

10