Taking note of the enormity of drug menace in Punjab, the central government has released over Rs 21 crore to the state in the last six years under the National Action Plan For Drug Demand Reduction (NAPDDR) to save precious lives from narcotics abuse and to support rehabilitation efforts.
Union minister of state for social justice and empowerment B L Verma shared this information in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, in a written reply to a question raised by Congress Member of Parliament from Patiala Dharamvira Gandhi.
He informed that the central grant under the NAPDDR has benefitted as many as 47,331 people in Punjab since 2018-19 till date.
He added that his ministry is supporting seven integrated rehabilitation centres for addicts (IRCAs) in various districts of Punjab including Gurdaspur, Ludhiana, Moga, Mohali, Patiala, Sangrur and Nawanshahr.
The Centre also supports two outreach and drop in centres (ODIC) in Gurdaspur and Ludhiana, besides one community based peer led intervention (CPLI) in Ludhiana.
The Lok Sabha was informed that the Union ministry of social justice and empowerment has a toll-free helpline number for de-addiction, 14446, for providing primary counselling and immediate referral services to the persons seeking help through this helpline.
This helpline number has received 3,118 calls from Punjab till date.
The central government had also launched Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan (NMBA) in 272 most vulnerable districts of the country on Aug 15, 2020.
The Abhiyaan has now been extended to all districts across the country, including in Punjab, under which a massive community outreach is being done through youth volunteers.
Over 5.5 lakh people, including 75,000 youth and 27,000 women, have been reached out under NMBA in Punjab.
