Social Welfare Minister Paul Lyngdoh on Thursday chaired a meeting with leaders of the different religious organizations as part of the government’s fight against the problem of drug menace in the state.
Addressing media persons, Lyngdoh said important suggestions have emerged from the meeting where the discussion was confined to the need to up the ante against the narcotic situation.
Suggestions were also made on the need to increase the intensity of counselling, awareness programmes and destigmatization of the drug users.
“As a result of the discussions, we agreed on a two-pronged approach. The first is to involve the various faith organizations in coming forward and joining the campaign against drug abuse,” he said.
The minister said at this stage, the government has earmarked an amount of Rs 10 crore per annum, which will work out at Rs 2.50 crore in five years for the implementation of the elimination of drug and substance use.
Lyngdoh also informed that the faith organizations have been requested to go back and have their inhouse consultations and said, “We will then, based on their requirements, fund the publicity campaign.”
“Also I had suggested that since a lot of schools also come under these organizations, students can be asked to take a pledge on a daily basis to not abuse himself or engage in activities that lead to narcotic addiction,” he added.
The minister said that the government has also decided to intensify the anti-drug campaign in the seven districts identified as ‘drug hotspots’ and other districts of the state.
“As a pilot project, we will start first with Shillong since it is a major hotspot. We will zone Shillong into various zones and each of these zones. There will be regular interactions and review of the extent of the problem, identification of users, identification of peddlers and coordination with all line departments, the dorbar shnongs and the social welfare department and health department,” he said.
Lyngdoh said that the faith leaders will be meeting on June 19 and post that they will come back to the government with their proposals.
He also assured that the department will also widen the scope of the third meeting by also inviting dorbar shnongs and NGOs to discuss the issue.