Govt mulling plan on rehabilitation of drug addicts

By re-launching the robust drive against drugs and summarily dismissing police personnel the Punjab government has attempted to send out an unequivocal message: The Parkash Singh Badal government intends to smash the network of drug peddlers and stamp out this menace.

By re-launching the robust drive against drugs and summarily dismissing police personnel the Punjab government has attempted to send out an unequivocal message: The Parkash Singh Badal government intends to smash the network of drug peddlers and stamp out this menace.

But this clampdown launched on May 20 and the arrest of 3,353 drug peddlers/addicts has posed a major challenge of ensuring that the drug addicts are not only properly de-addicted but also rehabilitated so that they don’t fall prey to this again.

With the gravity of the drug addiction becoming stark and chief minister Parkash Singh Badal admitting that the problem is one of the biggest challenges Punjab is facing, the government is mulling a comprehensive plan, focusing on long-term rehabilitation of the addicts after their deaddiction. “We are coming up with a master plan to ensure proper treatment and rehabilitation of drug addicts,” deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal told Hindustan Times.

And to give shape to this “long-term plan” of proper de-addiction, Sukhbir said the government was consulting an array of doctors.

According to the deputy CM, Dr KK Talwar, who has also served as director of the PGIMER, Chandigarh, will be the key person in planning and formulating the strategy for rehabilitation of the drug addicts and creating bigger infrastructure for de-addiction across the state.

Meanwhile, Dr Talwar will be a vital part of the newly set up State Narcotics Control Bureau, which will take complete shape by June 15.