(a) whether certain States have been granted the necessary permission for poppy cultivation;
(b) if so, the names of the States and the approximate yield of poppy annually;
(c) whether the illegal poppy cultivation is also widespread in several parts of the country;
(d) if so, the States where such activity is observed; and
(e) the action taken against the person indulging in illegal poppy cultivation?
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE (SHRI GINGEE N. RAMACHANDRAN)
(a) & (b) Opium poppy is cultivated in the tracts notified by the Central Government every year in the States of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan under licence issued to individual cultivators. The total yields during the crop years 1999-2000, 2000-01 and 2001-02 (provisional) have been 1705, 995 and 1016 metric tonnes respectively, at 70 degree consistency.
(c) & (d) Illicit cultivation of opium has been reported in the States of Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and West Bengal.
(e) Action is taken by various drug law enforcement agencies to identify and destroy illicit cultivation of opium and prosecute the persons engaging in such activities for offences under the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985.