Jalandhar, May 19 -- Langroya village of Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar, declared 99% drug free by the state government on May 16, has seen efforts by the village panchayat, including retired officials, for almost half a decade to transform the communities that have been known for selling drugs. Village sarpanch Gurdev Singh, a retired sub-divisional officer, said, "People from the Sansi community, notorious for drug peddling, are settled in Langroya village. People from other places used to come here to buy drugs." The governments, be it previous or present, made very little effort in improving the situation, he said. "It was a collective effort of retired teachers, officials and personnel from armed forces in the village that we took it as a challenge to eradicate the village's drug-haven tag. For this, we have been working for the past five to six years," he said. "We introduced sports infrastructure for kids and the result is quite evident that nearly 80 kids of these families are playing football at competition level," said Mohan Singh, a panchayat member. The entire school fee is funded by the Sant Baba Karam Singh Sports club, run by NRIs and panchayat. Sarpanch Gurdev Singh also said that in assistance with NRIs, the panchayat provided alternate sources of income to such families in dairy farming, poultry farms, MGNREGA, etc. However, the village panchayat is concerned about the sustainability of such efforts. "For this, we will soon meet the deputy commissioner and the senior superintendent of police for government's help as the panchayat has limited resources," said a panchayat member. SBS Nagar's SSP Mehtab Singh said it was one of the hotspot areas and police teams held multiple meetings with such families. "We have remained in touch with the panchayat and continue holding meetings with the families earlier indulged in drug peddling," the SSP said....