What rationale is there in formulating a comprehensive policy in respect of addressing an issue of utter importance and sensitivity like drug de-addiction in Jammu and Kashmir but remaining in utter dormancy in respect of its implementation? The matter is assuming precarious proportions though silently, as more and more people are reportedly getting entrapped into the lethal coils of drugs, perhaps, never to come out in case there was no treatment or de-addiction available with motivation, encouragement and assurance. It was exactly in the first week of January this year when the State Administrative Council (SAC) under the chairmanship of the Governor which had accorded sanction to the first ever but longed for quite some time, drug de-addiction policy. This policy which had an intrinsic ambition to address the problem in totality was expected to bring about a perceptible change in a drug addict in effectively getting out of the firm clutches of drug enslavement.
Since nothing of the sort in terms of implementation process is seen on the ground, drug peddlers and anti social parasites are inducing more and more young people to get hooked and a craving for drugs. What is the status of rehabilitation centres , drug de-addiction centres, list wise facilities and ‘repairing ‘damages or restoring normal health conditions for an addict about which comprehensive provisions are there in the said policy. We are equally unaware of the post constituting of state level and divisional level committees for implementation process. Even a paltry amount of Rs. 50000 was proposed to be given through Health and Medical Education Department to each of the two main GMC hospitals in Jammu and Srinagar for making an empirical study on the extent of drug addiction and de- addiction challenges and the findings must have been alarming. Even then, for more than four months since the de- addiction policy was formally accepted to be a vision document to act upon and to address the problem, nothing seems to be done in practical form.
If important policies, especially the ones related to restoring normal health conditions under expert and professional treatment and supervision are kept confined to official records and files, then the very purpose of formulating policies becomes a sham and a ruse. It is really surprising that not a single meeting of State Level Policy Implementation Monitoring Committee has been convened so far by the Government to take stock of the developments in the matter. Same is the case with Divisional level De-addiction Centre Monitoring Committees too. We feel that there should be no fixed or mandatory schedule of meetings prescribed officially in respect of the issue under reference as the problem is such that sticking to formalities and filling in the official formats would do no justice with the noble cause but it is surprising that not a single meeting has been convened thereby evidencing how much serious the State Administration was towards the problem in question.
Agreed that awareness camps are organised by the concerned departments but that is one of the elementary branches towards fighting drug abuse but other vital activities associated with the matter are nowhere in sight. The sale and supply channels of the drugs are organised in such a way that more and more people are becoming the victims thereby inflicting a hard blow to not only the individuals, their families physically, financially, emotionally and socially but to the claims of the Government that it was tackling the problem all in its seriousness.
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