Health Deptt, JKP fail to make joint
efforts on treatment facilities
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, Sept 3: Though the number of drug addicts in Jammu and Kashmir is increasing rapidly because of continuous activities of drug mafia yet provision of Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPSA) regarding establishment of sufficient de-addiction centres has failed to receive due attention of all the concerned authorities. Moreover, the Health Department and Jammu and Kashmir Police have failed to make collaborative efforts for the treatment of addicts and their social reintegration.
The Section 71 of the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, which deals with the powers of the Government to establish centres for identification, treatment etc of drug addicts states: The Government may establish, recognize or approve as many centres as it thinks fit for identification, treatment, management, education, after-care, rehabilitation and social re-integration of drug addicts.
However, in Jammu and Kashmir where menace of drugs is fast engulfing the youngsters, there are only two full-fledged de-addiction centres—one each at Jammu and Srinagar being run by the Jammu and Kashmir Police, official sources told EXCELSIOR. In each centre, there is a capacity to admit 25 drug-addicts for treatment for the period being specified by the qualified doctors.
In other districts of the State, there is no full-fledged de-addiction centre to treat the drug addicts and whatever arrangement the J&K Police has made is aimed at only providing counseling to the drug-addicts or making suggestions to their parents for their better care.
“The manpower deployed in the centres other than those established in Jammu and Srinagar is not competent to treat the drug-addicts as such they cannot be called full-fledged centres”, admitted a senior officer of the Jammu and Kashmir Police, adding “in the absence of full-fledged facilities in other districts of the State the drug-addicts are referred to the Jammu and Srinagar centres, which otherwise have limited bed-strength to provide treatment after proper admission”.
According to the sources, for want of full-fledged de-addiction centres in other districts the families of drug-addicts are being compelled to visit the centres being run by the Government or the Non-Governmental Organizations in the adjoining States particularly Punjab. “There are number of families who are finding it difficult to take the drug-addicts outside the State for treatment because of their poor economic condition”, they added.
Disclosing that full-fledged de-addiction centres at Jammu and Srinagar have been opened with the financial assistance from the Union Ministry of Home Affairs under Civic Action Programme, sources said, “it is unfortunate that neither those at the helm of affairs in the Jammu and Kashmir Police ever projected requirement of funds for establishment of fully functional centres in other districts of the State nor the Government voluntarily came forward for extending assistance”.
Had there been collaborative efforts on the part of Health Department and Jammu and Kashmir Police full-fledged de-addiction centres could have been easily opened in the districts albeit in phases, sources said, adding “by flouting the provision of NDPS Act regarding sufficient number of centres for treatment of drug-addicts the Government is clearly sending a message that even after alarming rise in the number of drug addicts it has not woken up from the deep slumber”.
“Instead of turning blind eye towards the provision of NDPS Act, the Government should have replicated the model of full-fledged centres of Jammu and Srinagar in other districts of the State”, sources said while disclosing that both these centres have been providing remarkable services for treatment and social reintegration of the drug addicts.
Under the NDPS Act, the State Government is empowered to make rules having regard to the provisions of the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, 1961, the Protocol of 1972 amending this convention and the Convention on Psychotropic Substances 1971 to which India is a party.
However, J&K has yet not found it appropriate to frame the rules despite the fact that rules are imperative not only for effective implementation of NDPS Act but also for establishment of drug de-addiction centres and for the appointment, training, powers, duties and persons employed in such centres, sources said.
Regretting that even no strategy has so far been chalked out as far as prevention of menace is concerned, sources said, “while the J&K Police is coming up with the figures vis-à-vis seizure of narcotics and number of FIRs lodged every year but what preventive measures are being taken has never been revealed”.
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