In a bid to intensify government’s anti-drugs campaign, Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Tuesday constituted a steering committee to monitor and coordinate with all the departments concerned to implement the drug de-addiction and rehabilitation programme in a mission mode.
The decision to set up the committee, headed by the Chief Secretary, was taken by the Chief Minister at a meeting of State Board of Drug De-addiction and Rehabilitation here.
An official spokesperson said the Chief Minister has directed the steering committee to meet frequently to streamline and stringently implement the programme in a time-bound manner. The committee has been asked to thrash out issues related to drug de-addiction and rehabilitation.
It was decided that Principal Secretary Health & Family Welfare, ADGP Special Task Force, Additional Chief Secretary Higher Education, Secretary Welfare, Secretary School Education would be the members of the committee.
The Chief Minister also asked the Principal Secretary Health & Family Welfare to depute dedicated officers in all the districts rather than posting them at headquarters to implement the drug de-addiction programme at the grassroot level. He directed that Panchayats be involved, along with NGOs, as well as social, voluntary and religious organizations to take the drugs awareness and rehabilitation programme forward.
Health & Family Welfare Minister Brahm Mohindra said positive results of the drug de-addiction campaign were visible but there was need to further synergize the efforts between the Health and Police departments to take this war against drugs to its logical conclusion.
Chief Secretary Karan Avtar Singh said the campaign could only be successful by enforcing the four elements of enforcement, drug de-addiction & rehabilitation, skill & employment, and treatment of the reformed youth with utmost care and respect.