HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:

The First recorded instance of the cultivation of poppy in India in the 15th centrury, mentions Cambay and Malwa as the places where it was grown was an important article of trade with China and other Eastern countries and was made a State monopoly. However, during the later years of the Moghul Empire, the State lost its hold on the monopoly and control over the production and sale of opium was appropriated by a ring of merchants in Patna. In 1757, the monopoly of the cultivation of poppy passed into the hands of the East India Company who had by that time assumed the responsibility for the collection of revenues in Bengal and Bihar. In 1773, the then Governor General, Lord Warren Hastings brought the whole of the opium trade under the control of the Government. Since then, though changes have been made in the methods of control of production, distribution, sale and possession of opium, the monopoly has been solely in the hands of the Government. Under the East India Company and afterwards under the British Rule, unrestricted cultivation of the poppy and the production of opium were prohibited.

2. After the transfer of power in 1947 and with the promulgation of the Constitution of India in January 1950 control over the cultivation and manufacture of opium throughout India passed into the hands of the Government of India from the 1st April 1950. In November, 1950 the Government of India took the first step in a programme to unify and rationalise the system of control over the production of opium throughout the country by setting up a Central Organisation known as the Central Bureau of Narcotics headed by the Narcotics Commissioner with the task of superintendence and control on licit cultivation and production of opium in India. The Headquarters of the Cenral Bureau of Narcotics was shifted to Gwalior in M.P. in the year 1960.

3. India being signatory to the Single Convention on Narcotics Drugs of 1961, her policy in regard to cultivation of poppy is, therefore, guided by International obligations to restrict production of opium to the quantity required within the country and for export for medical and scientific purposes.

Present Pattern of Control over Licit Cultivation of Opium.

The pattern of control over cultivation of poppy and production of opium include restriction of cultivation of opium poppy in selective notified tracts, cultivation by licensed cultivators, a cent percent measurement of the poppy fields, intensive field inspection, test measurement and preliminary weighments of opium produce immediately after collection of the latex, early purchase of opium by the Narcotics Department, payment of price of opium on slab-basis to the cultivators and intensive vigilance and checks by preventive squads. The control exercised over production of opium in India satisfies all the requirements of the International Treaties on Narcotic Drugs. Among themany tributes paid to India by the Commission on Narcotics Drugs, the most striking is the recognition of the Indian system of control over poppy cultivation as an international standard.

2. At present cultivation of poppy is confined to the traditional poppy growing tracts in the States of U.P., M.P. and Rajasthan. During this crop year 2001, about 727 Metric tons of opium at 90 degree consistency (935 Metric tons of opium at 70 degree consistency) has been procured. This year, the average yield at 70 degree consistency from MP, Rajasthan and UP has been 56.37, 57.38 and 36.084 kgs/hectare respectively compared to the preveious year’s average yield of 56.51, 55.85 and 44.29 kg/hectare respectively from the three states. Thus the average yield of MP and Rajasthan have gone up during the crop year 2001 in comparison to that in the previous crop year 2000. During the crop year 2001, the All India average yield was 51.63 despite the fact that about 24% of the licensed area was not sown due to acute shortage of water in Madhya Pradesh, the state tendering the highest average yield.

3. The Central Bureau of Narcotics is headed by the Narcotics Commissioner to the Government of India who is assisted by the Deputy Narcotics Commissioner, each incharge of three above-mentioned opium growing States. The Deputy Narcotics Commissioner is assisted by the Asstt. Narcotics Commissioner and below there are District Opium Officers. The District Opium Officer issues licences every year as per the policy framed for that year. The District Opium Officer with the assistance of the field and preventive staff exercises control over cultivation and procurement of opium produced. He undertakes preventive checks to check diversion of opium into illicit channels, In addition there are Preventive Cells located at vulnerable points to undertake preventive checks.

4. For cultivation of opium, Govt. of India frames licensing policy every year on the basis of which poppy cultivation is to be carried out during that particular crop year. The notification specifying the tracts in which poppy cultivation will be carried out is issued by the Government of India every year. The policy also lays down the guidelines for issuing licences to different categories of cultivators and also area to be cultivated. It also specifies the minimum yield of opium in Kgs./hectare which a cultivator must have tendered the previous season to be eligible for licence. Thus, no cultivator can cultivate poppy unless he has specific licence issued to him every year and that too on an area specified on that licence. If any cultivator violates this provision and cultivates illicit opium he commits an offence under Section 8 of the N.D.P.S. Act, 1985.

5. During the months of February and March, the poppy capsules become ripe for lancing. After lancing, collection of raw opium is made by the cultivators. All cultivators are required to weigh their daily collection of raw opium with the Lambardar of the village and the same is entered in the preliminary weighment records maintained by the Lambardar. Supervisory staff of the Narcotics Department make surprise visits to conduct preliminary weighment in the villages so as to ensure that the entire opium which has been collected from the fields is correctly weighted by the cultivators and properly entered in the preliminary weighment records. The preventive staff is deployed on strategic and vulnerable routes to exercise preventive checks to ensure that the cultivators do not divert their opium to the illicit channels.

6. Once the lancing period is over, the Narcotics Department sets up weighment centres and summons the cultivators to tender their entire produce to the Govt. In order to ensure that the cultivators do not mix water or other stuff in the opium, the District Opium Officer tests the quality of the opium using Hot Air Electric Oven. The Opium bags are then sent to the Opium Factories at Neemuch in M.P. and Ghazipur in U.P. for chemical test of the purity of the opium, its safe and secure storage and exports to foreign countries for medical and scientific purposes and for domestic requirement.