After militancy, drugs take toll of youth: IGP

Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, Nov 15:  Inspector General of Police, Kashmir, Abdul Gani Mir today said that after militancy the drug addiction is taking heavy toll of youth in Kashmir.
Mir while addressing a function at Drug De-addiction Centre of Police Control Room Srinagar said that drug addiction menace has eaten into vitals of the society in Kashmir and the people need to come forward to tackle and combat the problem.
Pertinently, the one month long Electrical Technician course is being organized by University of Kashmir’s Directorate of Lifelong Learning in collaboration with Police Drug De-addiction Centre, Srinagar for the rehabilitation of drug abuse patients who have been cured off the drugs menace or are being treated by the Centre as a measure to offer them sustenance and support to get them back in the mainstream.
IGP added that the drug addiction is a disease and needs to be tackled in the same way as we do with other diseases.
IGP revealed that it is found that after the patients respond to the treatment and go back, they find it difficult to grapple with rehabilitation issues, that is being observed as the key contributor for relapses in some patients. This has generated a need to devise some means to help them at this juncture.  In this regard IGP thanked the University of Kashmir for coming forward to develop this initiative for imparting training skills to these patients so that they could make themselves self-reliant. IGP assured all possible assistance in such initiatives in the future also.
The Registrar Kashmir University, Professor Zaffar Ahmad Reshi in his address said that the University of Kashmir in its initiatives of Extension Education has started numerous programmes for the betterment of the society and the issue of drug abuse is on the priorities as the fight against this menace is a noble cause.
Director DLL Dr G H Mir in his address threw light on the programme. He said that his department has held programmes in the length and breadth of the Kashmir valley and is helping to make skilled professionals who can earn their livelihood.
Giving details of the course he said that 10 trainees will be imparted basic training for one month by the experts of the DLL in Electrical Technician for house wiring.
The Head of Psychiatric Hospital Srinagar Dr. Maqbool and renowned Psychiatrist Dr. Arshid also spoke on the occasion and suggested some valuable measures in taking this programme to next levels.