Even as President Pranab Mukherjee presented the National Awards for Outstanding Services in the field of Prevention of Alcoholism and Substance (Drugs) Abuse on Sunday in New Delhi on the occasion of International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, there was no attempt to fill senior posts lying vacant for a long time in the premier drug control authority, Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB). Speaking on the occasion, the President congratulated the recipients of the awards for their outstanding contributions in the field of prevention of alcoholism and substance abuse. He told the award winners not to remain complacent and to continue with efforts for eradicating the twin menace. The President said the two vices have caused havoc in the social life of our country as well as across the world. He complimented the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment for its initiatives and stressed the need for civil society and NGOs to work closely with the Government in eradicating the menace. But NCB's efforts in this direction is badly compromised by a huge shortage of staff in the field and in the leadership position. As reported earlier by Indianmandarins, as many as four senior level posts are waiting to be filled in the bureau for more than a year. NCB's South Western Region is headless; and so is Eastern Region (DDG, ER). Posts of DDG HQ and DDG Operations, too, are vacant. Two of these posts fell vacant on 12 March after Vijaya Kumar (IPS:1987:TN) and Ranjan Kumar Sahu (IRS C&CE:1986) completed their tenure. The posts of DDG Operations and DDG Headquarters are vacant since 01 April 2015 and 01 July 2015.