Shillong: Union Minister Thawar Chand Gehlot on Monday said the Centre is in the process of finalising the first national policy on Drug Demand Reduction to curb the menace of drug abuse and trafficking in the country.
"We are in the process of finalising the first National Policy on Drug Demand Reduction, which involves the Government, Non-Governmental Organisations and other stakeholders," the Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment said in Shillong.
Identifying that there was a demand and supply aspect to solve the problem, Gehlot said control of the supply side was handled by the Department of Revenue and the Ministry of Home Affairs at the national level and the law enforcement agencies at the state level, and the aspects of demand reduction were being handled by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
He said that India has a close proximity to two major opium cultivating areas - the Golden Crescent countries (Iran-Afghanistan-Pakistan) and the Golden Triangle countries (Myanmar-Laos-Thailand), which makes it a region of transit as well as destination for illicit drugs.
"This menace needs to be tackled urgently and holistically so that different sections of the society, specially the youth, do not fall prey to it," Gehlot said. "There are reports of illicit cultivation of opium in some Northern, Eastern and North Eastern states," he said.
The Ministry has designated 12 NGOs having wide experience in the field of prevention of drug abuse as Regional Resource and Training Centres (RRTCs) in different regions of the country, including three in the North East - Nagaland, Mizoram and Manipur, the Minister said.
Gehlot said in the North East, it has been observed that there were many NGOs working in the field of Drug Abuse Prevention in states like Manipur, but there were no voluntary organisations in states like Tripura.
"I request the representatives of these states to have a look at this and identify the pockets of drug abuse and recommend organisations genuinely working in this field to get assistance from the Ministry," he said informing that the Ministry provides financial assistance of approximately Rs five crore to around 50 NGOs in the NE region.
Speaking on the occasion of inauguration of the first Regional Workshop on Prevention of Substance (Drugs) Abuse in the North East, Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Vijay Sampla said, "Drug abuse and illicit trafficking continue to have a profoundly negative impact on development and stability across the world."
He said drugs and alcohol not only affect the health of an individual, but also the basic foundation of the society and called for a concerted effort for its eradication.
Secretary of the Ministry, Anita Agnihotri said as per the reports, drug abuse was rapidly increasing, specially in the border states of North, North West and North East India, which serve as transit zones for drug traffickers.
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