Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh today asked Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and his Deputy Sukhbir Singh Badal to take the problem of drug addiction among the youth in the state seriously.

Reacting to Badal and Sukhbir's statements on the issue, Amarinder asked them "to act responsibly and don't make a joke of such a serious problem."  The PCC chief said it was the Punjab government which had given the figures in a court that 70 per cent of the youth in the state in a particular age group had been affected by the drugs.

Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi had referred to this during a function at the Punjab University here, he said. By criticising Gandhi, Amarinder said the Akalis were contradicting their own stand in the court.

"Instead of taking the issue seriously, the father-son duo joined by others like Bikram Majithia (Revenue minister) are repeatedly skirting the issue and putting the blame on others," he said.