The Meeting of “National Consultative Committee on De-addiction and Rehabilitation (NCCDR)” held here today under the chairmanship of Shri Vijay Sampla, Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment. Smt. Anita Agnihotri, Secretary, M/o SJ&E and senior officers were present in the meeting. Representatives of States and Union territories and Regional Resource & Training Centres (RRTCs) and many NGOs participated in the meeting. Addressing on the occasion, the Minister called upon the members of the National Consultative Committee to share their views and opinions frequently and regularly on this serious issue.
The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment is the nodal Ministry for drug demand reduction. It coordinates and monitors all aspects of drug abuse prevention which include assessment of the extent of the problem, preventive action, treatment and rehabilitation of addicts, dissemination of information and public awareness. The Ministry provides community-based services for the identification, treatment and rehabilitation of addicts through voluntary organisations.
During the meeting, the following important issues were discussed:
- Evolving and strengthening appropriate models for the prevention of alcoholism, drug and substance abuse, treatment and rehabilitation of drug dependent individuals.
- Ensuring the facility of De-addiction Centres in each District and increasing the number of Regional Resource & Training Centres (RRTCs).
- Establishing separate and specialised de-addiction treatment centres/facilities for drug dependent females and children, especially in Central Government Hospitals/Medical colleges.
- Organizing awareness generation programmes in different parts of the country and conducting sensitization and preventive education programmes in schools and colleges throughout the year.
- Establishing a system of accreditation of facilities offering services connected with drug abuse.
- Formulation of National Alcohol Policy.
- Establishing appropriate facilities for highly vulnerable groups like spouses and children of addicts, street children, homeless, beggars, people living in slums, IDUs, sex workers etc.
- Cooperation on various fronts from the stakeholders for successful conduct of the National Survey on Extent and Pattern of Substance Use.
- Strengthening the monitoring mechanism of IRCAs and improving service delivery.