‘Drug abuse is serious issue, no scope for slackness’
Thrust laid on inter-departmental, multi-level campaign
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, Apr 7: Noting that menace of drug addiction in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir is a serious issue, Chief Secretary Dr Arun Kumar Mehta has directed all the departments to start focusing on the tasks assigned by the General Administration Department in the month of September last year and periodically assess the outcome of different activities to be conducted by the field functionaries.
Vide Circular No.30-JK(GAD) dated September 3, 2022, detailed instructions were issued to almost all the Government departments for generating awareness about the drug addiction, identification of drug users and suppliers as also rehabilitation of victims.
However, the departments focused on the assigned tasks only during the month of September 20222 and thereafter very few activities were conducted and this was exclusively highlighted by EXCELSIOR in its edition dated February 18, 2023. It was pointed out that several departments and majority of the Urban Local Bodies and Panchayati Raj Institutions are not strictly following the instructions on checking substance abuse.
Few days back, Chief Secretary Dr Arun Kumar Mehtra, while chairing a high-level meeting, noted that the menace of drug addiction is a serious issue as such there should not be any let up in the activities/tasks assigned to the departments by the General Administration Department in the month of September last year, official sources told EXCELSIOR.
Accordingly, the Chief Secretary has directed all the departments to ensure that the specific tasks assigned to them under the Nasha Mukt Jammu and Kashmir Abhiyan initiative are re-activated and strictly followed to combat/eradicate the menace of drug addiction.
Detailed instructions have already been issued to 17 Government departments, Urban Local Bodies and Panchayati Raj Institutions as the menace can be tackled through multi-level campaign and inter-departmental approach at Union Territory level, district level and Panchayat level.
The Social Welfare Department is required to ensure active involvement of Anganwari workers and ASHA workers in identifying drug abuse victims and their rehabilitation while as Rural Development Department is supposed to coordinate with PRIs for identification of drug users and facilitating passing of resolutions by Gram Sabhas to check the menace.
The School and Higher Education Departments are required to formulate Youth Clubs and select ambassadors for spreading the message and ensure teaching on drug abuse and its ill effects on regular basis. Likewise, Health Department has been assigned the task of holding regular counseling sessions with drug addicts and ensure availability of adequate substitute drugs for home-detoxification besides taking up research, survey and impact assessments on substance use.
The Municipal Corporations and Urban Local Bodies are supposed to spread message on drug abuse in the localities under their jurisdiction through mobile vans, conduct regular checks on the activities of public in parks, hold regular sessions of sanitation workers and in slum areas regarding ill-effects of drugs etc.
As per the instructions, the Home Department is required to ensure that Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act is implemented strictly in entire Union Territory and supply sources are tracked and illicitly grown poppy and cannabis are destroyed on regular basis besides ensuring mapping of drug farming areas.
Likewise, Transport Department is supposed to ensure active and intense participation of transport associations in the awareness campaign and manage displaying of ill-effects of drugs on both public and private transport vehicles. The Youth Services and Sports Department is under the instruction to sensitize the participants of sports activities about the perils of drug abuse and activate all youth clubs to spread the message against the drug menace.
The Floriculture Department is supposed to ensure that all gardens under its administrative control are not misused by drug victims/peddlers while as Deputy Commissioners are required to rope in the celebrities and religious leaders to spread the message of drug abuse during their programmes and identify uneducated, unemployed and school dropouts and then put them through the screening process.
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