Centre to fund 34 modern deaddiction units

Chandigarh, The Union Government has stepped in to offer help in rehabilitating drug addicts in the state. It has announced to fund the running cost of the 34 state-of-the-art rehabilitation centres for addicts coming up all over the state.
Speaking at a conference on drug menace organised by the Joshi Foundation here today, Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Vijay Sampla said the Centre would fund rehabilitation centres. Heads of over 40 government and private drug de-addiction centres participated in the event.
Apart from drug de-addiction facility, these centres would also help in rehabilitating addicts by imparting them job-oriented training and financing their self-employment pursuits.
Sampla told The Tribune that the first such centre would become functional at Hoshiarpur next month. Sampla represents the Hoshiarpur parliamentary constituency.
Though doctors and heads of de-addiction centres and NGOs presented startling figures, Sampla and state Health Minister Surjit Kumar Jyani claimed the menace was not as threatening as was being made out.
Many speakers said earlier middle-aged patients used to come for drug de-addiction, but now majority of them happened to be teenagers. Some times, children under 10 years of age were also brought to these centres, they said. Cases where a newborn had to be detoxified as his mother was an addict were also tabled during the conference. There had been cases where all family members of an addict’s family were given treatment.
Sampla also took upon medicine manufacturers saying they were also responsible for increased sale of off-the-counter drugs as they lured chemists and doctors with gifts and free foreign trips for higher sales.
Apart from Sampla, Rajya Sabha member Avinash Rai Khanna, Jyani, Joshi Foundation’s chief and assistant media adviser to the Punjab Government Vineet Joshi, RSS’s joint secretary Amritsagar, Punjab Khadi Board Chairman Harjit Singh Grewal, Sri Sai University’s Chancellor SK Punj and cardiologist Dr HK Bali spoke on the occasion.
Jyani said the problem was more pronounced in cities as compared to rural areas. “It is often said that rural youths are addicted to one drug or the other. I say drug addiction is a bigger problem among youths studying in various colleges and universities in urban areas,” he said.
Khanna, who anchored the conference, said the purpose of the conference was to know the ground reality from direct stakeholders—doctors and NGO officials working in this field.