Chhattisgarh Launches Anti-Drug Forces, Special Police Unit & Startup Push

In a significant step to combat the growing menace of narcotics, the state Cabinet sanctioned the creation of district-level Anti-Narcotics Task Forces in 10 districts: Raipur, Mahasamund, Bilaspur, Durg, Bastar, Surguja, Kabirdham, Jashpur, Rajnandgaon, and Korba.

For this purpose, 100 new posts were approved under the main budget for the financial year 2025-26, enabling dedicated teams to intensify crackdowns on illegal drugs, particularly in vulnerable and high-risk areas.

To enhance rapid response capabilities, the state Cabinet cleared 44 new posts for establishing a Special Operations Group under the Special Branch of the Police Headquarters.

This elite, specially trained unit will swiftly reach incident sites during major emergencies, terrorist attacks, or serious threats, control situations effectively, and neutralise dangers, bolstering overall public safety.

The State Cabinet also gives go to guidelines for setting up Flight Training Organisations at various airports and airstrips across the state through private participation.

This initiative aims to provide pilot training facilities locally, meet rising aviation sector demand, generate employment for youth, and promote related developments such as aircraft recycling, helicopter services, and aero sports.

Economic innovation received a major boost with the approval of the Chhattisgarh Innovation and Startup Promotion Policy 2025-26.

The policy seeks to nurture the start-up ecosystem, support incubators and stakeholders, position Chhattisgarh as a prominent innovation hub nationally, and improve the state's ranking in the national start-up index to attract greater investments.

In urban development, the state Cabinet decided to transfer 35 completed residential colonies built by the Chhattisgarh Housing Board and Raipur Development Authority to respective municipal corporations and municipalities.

These colonies include open plots, parks, and public amenities, excluding saleable residential, commercial, or semi-public properties.

Further decisions included authorising the Naya Raipur Atal Nagar Development Authority to construct a large multi-storey building for government departments and corporations to optimise land use, delegating government land allocation powers in Sirpur and Arpa regions to District Collectors at a nominal premium of Rs 1 with ground rent to accelerate planned riverine development, and implementing the Chhattisgarh Cloud First Policy.

This policy mandates state departments, undertakings, and autonomous bodies to use only approved Indian cloud providers or secure domestic data centres, with phased migrations -- low-priority by 2027-28 and high-priority by 2029-30 -- while developing new applications cloud-natively to cut costs, enhance cybersecurity, ensure disaster resilience, and deliver 24x7 citizen services.

Additionally, the state Cabinet approved a Mobile Tower Scheme to expand digital connectivity, addressing geographical challenges and left-wing extremism-affected regions for improved infrastructure.

- IANS