No govt-run de-addiction centre in Himachal

Tribune News Service

Shimla, February14

Despite the problem of rising drug addiction becoming a major cause of concern, there is not even a single government run rehabilitation centre in Himachal and only three such centres are being run by social organizations.

The information was provided by Health and Family Welfare Minister Vipin Parmar in a written reply to a query raised by Rajesh Thakur and Ashish Butail during question hour in the Vidhan Sabha today. The members had sought details about the facility in the state and admission procedures.

The minister informed the House that there is no government run rehabilitation centre for drug de-addiction in Himachal. He also added that there is no data available regarding privately run rehabilitation centres anywhere in the state.

“However, there are three Integrated Rehabilitation Centres for Addicts (IRCA) being run through NGOs in Himachal under Centrally Sponsored “Scheme of Assistance for the prevention of Alcoholism and Substance (Drugs) Abuse,” scheme, he informed the house.

These include IRCA Kullu being run by NGO Gunjan Organization for Community Development, and IRCAs at Dharamsala and Nurpur, being run by Red Cross Society Kangra.

Parmar said the three centres had a bed capacity of 15 each. However, as per the central sector scheme, provision of 30 and 50 bedded centres has also been made depending on the number of drug abuse cases.

“There is no specific procedure laid down for admission to these rehabilitation centres and the addicts whether voluntary or referral cases, are admitted in these centres without any bar,” Vipin Parmar stated.

The minister also said that the state government does not fund any NGOs or private parties to run rehabilitation centres. “The state government recommends various proposals of different NGOs to the Centre for funding IRCAs under the Centrally sponsored scheme,” the minister said.

He disclosed that 10 proposals (3 ongoing and 7 new) of IRCAs for the year 2018-19 had been recommended to the Centre for funds but none had been sanctioned till date.

“In the year 2017-18 also, out of the three proposals, only one had been approved and a grant of Rs 18.66 lakh had been released to Gunjan Organization for IRCA Kullu,” he said.

Sharing the details about the number of persons who had got admitted in these three centres in 2019, he said 108 addicts in Kullu, 176 in Dharamsala and 159 in Nurpur had been admitted in the centres.

“There is no application pending for admission in these drug de-addiction and rehabilitation centres,” said Parmar.

No data of pvt centres available

• There is no government run rehabilitation centre for drug de-addiction in Himachal
• He also added that there was no data available regarding privately run rehabilitation centres anywhere in the state
• However, there are three Integrated Rehabilitation Centres for Addicts being run through NGOs in Himachal under Centrally sponsored scheme