M4PNews|Chandigarh
Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has exempted ex-servicemen and senior citizens for mandatory dope test for issuance and renewal of their arms licences.
The Chief Minister has taken the decision in response to a request from ex-servicemen and senior citizens groups, according to an official spokesperson.
It was pointed out by the ex-servicemen and senior citizens that many of them had been in possession of arms licences for decades. The Chief Minister agreed that they were fit cases for exemption considering their track record and their age.
The decision comes about six months after the state government decided to make it mandatory for all applications to undergo a compulsory dope test to qualify for a weapon licence.
Earlier it was said that Every arms holder has to go through this test. Many Senior citizens opposed this decisions saying that many of them have been suffering neuro-psychotic diseases, so they cannot stand to survive without medicine even for one day. Hence their dope test is bound to fail. In that case, such decisions are not good for them. After meeting the senior citizens, CM allowed to renew their arms licences without dope tests.
Talking on this Mohan Kamboj of Amritsar said, “It is a big relief for senior citizens since we have been keeping arms since ages, so having dope test after having so many medicines due to our age, is not feasible for us. We thank our chief minister for this step of generosity.”