Drug de-addiction centre announced for Kandaghat

Ambika Sharma

Solan, March 3

A drug de-addiction centre has been announced again for Kandaghat nearly two years after the project was abandoned. Though a crucial project like a drug de-addiction centre is urgently required in the area given a steep rise in the cases of youth taking to drugs, it has been caught in political rigmarole.

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Sukhu had announcement in this regard in his Budget speech. It, however, was not clear where this centre would be set up as the health officials have no clue about it.

Chief Medical Officer, Solan, Dr Rajan Uppal, said, “We are yet to receive information about where the proposed drug de-addiction centre would be set up in Kandaghat.”

He said, “A request was made to the PWD to prepare its budgetary estimate when the under-construction hospital building was notified as a drug de-addiction centre. But later when it was denotified, another request was sent to the PWD to prepare its budgetary estimate for a hospital. The project has not proceeded beyond that.”

A move to set up a drug de-addiction centre was initiated in 2022 by BJP leader, Rajesh Kashyap, who had unsuccessfully contested two Assembly elections against his father-in-law, Health and Welfare Minister DR Shandil.

He had spearheaded the move to convert the under-construction hospital into a de-addiction centre. It was notified as a de-addiction centre in February 2022 after the work to construct the hospital was put on hold in July 2018 due to lack of funds. The project, however, did not see the light of the day and a move to denotify it was pursued by DR Shandil after the Congress came back to power in 2023.

The original project to construct a hospital was started during the regime of former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh to provide better healthcare facilities to people. Its work was stalled due to paucity of funds.

The construction of the new hospital building has remained a contentious issue ever since its inception. BJP leaders had raised objections over it since the old building, located near the mini secretariat, was barely a few years old. Investing crores on a new structure was considered a wasteful expenditure.

A sum of Rs 18 crore was received from the Centre for the augmentation of healthcare services in Kandaghat block during the former Congress regime. Some work was executed for a hospital from these funds.