In a statement here, Lal Singh, Brahm Mohindra, Parminder Singh and Gurkirat Singh (All MLAs) said political parties should rise above vested political interests as this problem had deep roots and needs to be tackled with by multi-pronged approach of creating awareness and skill development.
Parminder Singh said as a first step, the state government should make NCC training compulsory in educational institutes as this approach would imbibe a spirit of discipline among the youth.
Moreover, the National Cadet Corps training would also allow skill development enabling them to join police, para-military forces and the Army, he said.
Preference should be given in recruitment to police and para-military forces to those having NCC training, he said, adding, sports should also be given adequate focus.
He said the state government was already taking steps in this direction but more needed to be done. As a first step, sports should be made compulsory up to fifth standard. Thereafter, students should be encouraged to opt for the discipline they are talented in.
The Congress leaders said Punjabi youths were failing to perform well in the recruitment tests conducted by police and para-military forces.
At one time, Punjab had been demanding that quota-based recruitment in the armed forces should be abolished. Now the problem in Punjab is that even quota is not being filled up due to deteriorating health of the youth, they said.
He said Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal should aggressively confront the drug menace.
Congress General Secratary Rahul Gandhi had recently created a stir with his comment that seven out of 10 youths in Punjab have a drug problem, drawing sharp reactions from politicial parties across the state.
