Certain Distts to be treated on priority
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Feb 9: Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Dr Virendra Kumar today dedicated 25 Addiction Treatment Facilities (ATFs) to the country including six in Jammu and Kashmir in the presence of Union Minister of State for Home Nitayanand Rai.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah who was scheduled to dedicate the ATFs couldn’t attend the function.
Senior officers of Social Justice Ministry joined the function which was held through virtual mode.
Six ATFs which were dedicated in Jammu and Kashmir are located at Psychiatric Hospital, an Associate Hospital of Government Medical College (GMC) Jammu, Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) Soura in Kashmir; Kathua, Rajouri, Poonch and Kishtwar District Hospitals, all in Jammu region.
Deputy Commissioner Jammu Avny Lavasa and SSP Jammu Chandan Kohli besides senior doctors attended the function at Psychiatric Hospital Jammu. Similarly, senior officers and doctors joined the function at other ATFs.
As per the sources, the Central Government has assured to bear expenditure of infrastructure development and four posts each in the ATFs besides giving other required funding.
They added that the ATFs in Psychiatric Hospital (GMC Jammu) and SKIMS Soura will have De-addiction and Rehabilitation Centres, Outdoor Patients Department, Rehabilitation Centres and Therapy while four District Hospitals including Kathua, Rajouri, Poonch and Kishtwar will initially have OPDs but the facilities there will be subsequently enhanced.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr Virendra Kumar informed that the Government of India has been implementing National Action Plan for Drug Demand Reduction (NAPDDR), an umbrella scheme under which financial assistance is provided to State Governments/ Union Territory (UT) administrations for preventive education and awareness generation, capacity building, skill development, vocational training and livelihood support of ex-drug addicts, programmes for drug demand reduction by States/UTs etc. and NGOs/VOs for running and maintenance of Integrated Rehabilitation Centres for Addicts (lRCAs).
“Establishing ATFs in the Government hospitals is a special initiative under Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan (NMBA),” Dr Kumar said.
Lauding various initiatives of the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, Union MoS Home Nityanand Rai said, “The ATF initiative and Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan are laudable efforts. These two steps will cause positive impacts.”
Under Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan, through various activities, over 9.45 crore people have been reached out so far. Around 8,000 Master Volunteers have been selected and trained to lead the Abhiyaan activities in the 372 identified districts. More than 3.08 crore youth have actively participated in the activities of the Abhiyaan to spread the message against substance use, the Union Minister added.
The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MoSJE), Government of India has initiated ambitious Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan (NMBA), currently operational in 372 districts of the country with an aim to create awareness about ill effects of substance abuse among the youth, with special focus on higher education institutes, University Campuses, schools and reaching out into the community and garnering community involvement.
Considering that India has a huge population of people affected by alcohol and drug addiction and the proportionately lower availability of services for addiction treatment, the MoSJE has launched the Addiction Treatment Facility programme.
The programme is being coordinated nationally by the National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre (NDDTC), AIIMS, New Delhi.
The MoSJE has identified certain districts in the country which are to be treated as priority districts for establishing ATFs. The Ministry plans to have at least 125 districts covered under the ATF programme.
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