Spreading awareness against drug abuse

For the last 12 years, 70-year-old Chaman Singh, Project Director, Red Cross Integrated Rehabilitation Centre for Addicts, has been spreading awareness among people, especially youth, regarding drug abuse.

Advertisement

The centre has been fighting drug abuse in its own way. Singh has dealt with over 3,500 inmates until now. “I know how they should be treated and how much love they need,” he told The Tribune.

Chaman Singh got retired as a Punjabi master from a government high school in 2012. While he was figuring out how to focus on his passion for writing after retirement, Chaman Singh got associated with the rehab centre.

The centre gets financial grant from the Union Ministry of Social Justice. Several awareness camps are also organised in various villages. Once an inmate is discharged from the centre after getting treatment for over a month, home visits by the centre staff are also organised to ensure that he doesn’t fall back into the trap of addiction.

At present, there are 15 staff members at the centre, including counsellors, nurses, ward boys and peer educators. The centre, however, needs a permanent psychiatrist to look after the inmates and interact with them on a daily basis. A yoga specialist also visits the centre who makes the inmates do exercises to calm their mind.

Chaman Singh shared that in his 12-year association with the centre, he had come across several depressing and sad stories, but some stuck with him. Honey, 34, (name changed) was in college when he started consuming drugs. His father sent him off to Saudi Arabia so that he could work there and get out of this deadly trap.

For five years, Honey worked as a driver and did not consume drugs, besides earning a good amount of money. Sadly, the relief was short-lived. On returning home, he met with some addicts and again got hooked to drugs. Honey realised his folly after spending entire money on drugs. He couldn’t even afford Rs 1,200 for his daughter’s vaccination.

Rajinder (name changed) suffered a massive electric shock when he was 17. His arms had to be amputated. His parents went to Greece leaving him with his paternal uncle. Loneliness started troubling Rajinder and he befriended some of boys who pulled him into drugs. “We now want a bigger place where we could also organise outdoor activities for the inmates,” Chaman Singh said.