 bill no  41 of  2017 the narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances (amendment) bill, 2017 byshri sudheer gupta, mpa billfurther to amend the narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances act, 1985be it enacted by parliament in the sixty-eighth year of the republic of india as follows:—1 (1) this act may be called the narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances(amendment) act, 2017short title, extent and commencement(2) it extends to the whole of india except the state of jammu and kashmir(3) it shall come into force on such date as the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, appoint61 of 19852 after section 6 of the narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances act, 1985, the following sections shall be inserted, namely:—insertion of new sections 6a, 6b, 6c and 6d5constitution of opium nodal authority"6a (1) without prejudice to the provisions of sub-section (3) of section 4, the central government shall, by notification in the official gazette, constitute an authority to be known as the opium nodal authority to regulate production, cultivation, marketing, import, export, research and development and health and welfare issues related with opium10(2) the authority shall consist of—(a) a chairperson, who shall be a person having knowledge and professional expertise of not less than twenty years in the discipline of agriculture or healthcare or pharmaceuticals including three years experience of working at the top management level in those disciplines;15(b) head and members of each of the advisory panels constituted under section 6c, as members;(c) members of rajya sabha and lok sabha representing the states or constituencies, as the case may be, where opium is legally produced, as members; and20(d) one representative each from the union ministries of agriculture and farmers welfare, health and family welfare, finance, home affairs and chemicals and fertilizers, as members, to be appointed by the central government in such manner as may be prescribed(3) the chairperson of the authority shall hold office for a period of six years (4) the members of the authority shall hold office for a period of five years25(5) the headquarter of the authority shall be at such place as the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, specify:30provided that the central government may, in consultation with the state governments concerned, establish such number of regional offices of the authority at such other places as it may deem fit(6) the salary and allowances payable to, and other terms and conditions of the service of the chairperson and members of the authority shall be such, as may be prescribed35(7) the central government shall appoint such number of officers and staff to the authority as it considers necessary for the efficient discharge of its functions under this act(8) the salary and allowances payable to and other terms and conditions of service of officers and staff of the authority shall be such, as may be prescribed6b the authority shall—functions of the authority40(a) advise the central government with regard to such matters related to the opium as production, cultivation, marketing, import, export, research and development and health and welfare; and(b) perform such other functions as the central government may assign to it, from time to time456c (1) the chairperson of the authority shall, by notification in the official gazette, constitute five advisory panels, namely, agriculture, health, narcotics, vigilance, research constitution of the advisory panelsand development and trade and commerce for carrying out the functions assigned to them under this act(2) each panel shall consist of —(a) a head; and5(b) ten other members, having not less than five years of experience inthe field of agriculture or health or narcotics vigilance or research and development or trade and commerce, as the case may be, to be appointed by the chairperson of the authority in such manner as may be prescribed10(c) the head and other members of the advisory panels shall hold officefor a period of five years(3) the salary and allowances payable to, and other terms and conditions of the service of the head and other members of the advisory panels shall be such, as may be prescribed6d the advisory panels shall perform the following functions, namely:—functions of the advisory panels15(a) the agriculture panel shall conduct an annual survey of licensed opiumfarmers and prepare a list of eligible farmers; promote and propagate effective cultivation practices of opium; monitor opium poppy marketing issues faced by the farmers in dealing with the central bureau of narcotics; and provide guidance on management of destroyed opium crops;20(b) the health panel shall investigate various health and addiction issuesassociated with opium as a recreational drug; survey production of essential alkaloids from the opium harvest; study the issues which can be dealt with by medical practitioners; and report problems and recommendations to the authority;2561 of 1985(c) the narcotics vigilance panel shall supervise and monitor smuggling andillicit manufacturing of opium in collaboration with the departments established under the narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances act, 1985;30(d) the research and development panel shall conduct independent, objective,ground-level and regular research on the issues relating to opium and the best international standards for managing opium harvest and its by-products and report the same to the authority along with institutional problems faced, if any, and shall alsoprovide suggestions;(e) the trade and commerce panel shall conduct annual surveys on opium poppy demand in india, export and import statistics of opium by-products and recommend measures to improve the economic situation to the authority; and35(f) all advisory panels shall perform such other functions as may be assigned tothem by the chairperson of the authority or by their respective head, as the case may be" statement of objects and reasonsagricultural crises topple the lives of our primary producers all over the country but opium is one commodity where farmers have to brave it out slightly more than others owing to not just erratic weather but also equivocal procedures, despite the fact that they are engaged in its legal cultivation poppy is not only a commonplace household ingredient world over, but is also processed by pharmaceuticals to obtain essential alkaloids like morphine, thebaine, codeine, etc, which form the basic composition of most pain-killers, cough syrups and chemo-drugs so, the demand always tends to be more than the supply, necessitating imports it goes without saying that clearing the procedural drawbacks would result in enhanced productivity, self-sufficiency and swift expansion of our export potential opium is one of those rare crops which involve not just farming, cultivating, climatic and marketing issues; but also health and welfare, smuggling, illicit manufacturing and organized crime issues the current supervisory body is the central bureau of narcotics under the ministry of finance, which is primarily concerned with narcotic abuse but opium cultivation requires an independent nodal body to collaborate with a wide spectrum of ministries (like commerce and industry, health and family welfare, agriculture and farmers welfare, etc) to take holistic executive decisionsthe bill, therefore, seeks to amend the narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances act, 1985 with a view to constitute an opium nodal authority to regulate the production, cultivation, marketing, import, export, research and development and health and welfare issues related with opium in the countryhence this billnew delhi;sudheer guptafebruary 10, 2017 financial memorandumclause 2 of the bill provides for establishment of opium nodal authority to regulate production, cultivation, marketing, import, export, research and development and health and welfare issues related with opium it also provides for appointment of officers and staff for the authority it further provides for constitution of advisory panels by the chairperson of the authority the bill, therefore, if enacted, would involve expenditure from the consolidated fund of india it is estimated that an annual recurring expenditure to the tune of rupees five hundred crores will be involveda non-recurring expenditure of about rupees one hundred crores is also likely to be involved lok  sabha———— a billfurther to amend the narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances act, 1985————(shri sudheer gupta, mp)gmgipmrnd—4748ls(s3)—03-03-2017