Parliamentary Panel Urges Inclusion Of Drug Awareness
Recently, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Social Justice and Empowerment has submitted a report on ‘Drug Abuse Among Youth – Problems and Solutions’.
Key observations of the committee:
- In States/UTs like Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha and Maharashtra, about 37 crore people in the age group of 10-17 years and 18-75 years are consuming various drugs and alcohol.
- The services of District De-addiction Centers (DDAC) are not available everywhere.
- There has been a reduction in the financial allocation on anti-drug education and awareness generation programme. India is situated among some of the largest producing countries of narcotics/narcotics.
- These countries are classified into Golden Crescent (Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran) and Golden Triangle (Thailand, Myanmar, Vietnam and Laos).
- There is delay in imparting training to master trainers under Nav-Chetana programme. Navchetna program aims to develop life skills for school children and provide education against drug abuse.
Recommendations of the committee:
- There should be regular meetings and reviews of the Apex Committee of the Narcotics Coordination Centre.
- An effective evaluation mechanism should be put in place for the National Action Plan on Drug Demand Reduction (NAPDRR).
- Awareness should be created among people by including chapters on drug addiction, its ill-effects and de-addiction measures in the educational curriculum.
- Inter-ministerial coordination should be promoted to address the supply side and demand side issues of drug abuse.
- Periodic surveys should be conducted by the National Drug Dependence Treatment Centers (NDDTC) to stay updated on the status of drug abuse.
Source – Times of India
