Rs 4 Cr funds released for counselling, de-addiction of drug abusers in J&K in last three years: Parliamentary Panel

Srinagar : Under National Action Plan for Drug Demand Reduction (NAPDDR), Department of Social Justice and Empowerment of the Government of India has provided around Rs 4 crore funds for counselling, de-addiction of the drug abusers and around 2000 persons have got benefitted in last three years in J&K, parliament panel report has revealed.
Standing Committee on Social Justice and Empowerment in its report titled, “Drug abuse among young persons: Problems and solutions reveals that the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment of the Government of India that funds are being provided for identification, motivation, counseling, de-addiction, after care and rehabilitation of the drug users.
“During the financial year 2020-21 Rs 0.84 crore funds were released to NGOs/VOs in J&K followed by Rs 0.46 crore in the year 2021-2022 and Rs 2.37 crore funds in year 2022-23,” Report reveals.
It further adds that under NAPDDR around 200 persons got benefitted in Jammu and Kashmir from 2019-2021 including 179 in 2018-19, 247 in year 2019-2020 and 1509 in year 2020-2021.
About establishment of District De-addiction Centres, the Department has informed the Standing Committee that all out efforts are being made in this direction in consultation with the Government of Jammu and Kashmir.
The Standing Committee has laid stress on coordination among all the concerned agencies in Jammu and Kashmir to control the trafficking, production and distribution of drugs.
Notably as per report, around 13.5 lakh people in Jammu & Kashmir consume drugs, with over 5 lakh addicts using opioid.
As per the report, among 1,68700 minor drug abusers, 8,000 are using cannabis, 95,000 opioids, 19,000 sedatives, 100 cocaine, 400 Amphetamine Stimulants, 46,000 inhalants and 200 Hallucinogens.
The report states that 11,80,000 adults of the 18-75 age group are drug abusers and among them, 3,54,000 are using alcohol, 1,36000 cannabis, 4,47,000 Opioids, 1,51,000 sedatives, 89,000 inhalants and 1000 each of Cocaine, stimulant and Hallucinogens.
The parliamentary committee in the report mentioned that the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment commissioned a comprehensive survey in 2018 by the National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre (NDDTC) AIIMS, and on the basis of the survey a comprehensive Scheme, National Action Plan for Drug Demand Reduction (NAPDDR) was formulated for 2018-25 to tackle the drug menace in the country