Shillong, May 20: The number of drug addicts in the state has touched an alarming 2.5 lakh, including women and minors, Meghalaya social welfare minister Paul Lyngdoh said on Monday. “In a state with a population of 35 lakh, if 2.5 lakh are drug addicts, the situation is rather grim,” Paul told media persons. The state government on Monday released Rs 15.65 lakh as second instalment as funding to the Mawlai Town Dorbar, which is first traditional institution in Meghalaya to come up with an anti-drug campaign to help rehabilitate drug addicts from in and around the locality.
The government will stop the supply of drugs into the state, the minister however said that this is something, which goes beyond one single department of the government, which is why we have conceived the DREAM mission which also involved home police and home department. These are line departments, which need to interact and coordinate their activities.
As far as the entry points are concerned, Lyngdoh said that there is need to further strengthen the performance of the Anti-Narcortic Task Force (ANTF) at the main entry point to the Khasi-Jaintia Hills sector is the East Jaintia Hills district.
“We need to tone up its efficacy and increase its manpower – that will happen once the current recruitment to the state police and home guards takes place where we will be having more manpower and a few of them will be trained in anti-narcotic activities, “he said.
“A new DGP has just taken over, we will be also incentivizing the state home department through our DREAM project, whereby they will be able to organize similar programmes from police departments where some of these VDPs will also be involved. These are some of the strategies we are adopting but then there are other strategies that we are also contemplating, and you will see those results very soon,” he added.
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