The state government on Monday released Rs 15.65 lakh as second installment as funding to the Mawlai Town Dorbar, which is first traditional institution in Meghalaya to come up with an anti-drug campaign to help rehabilitate drug addicts from in and around the locality.
The fund under the DREAM project was released and handed over by the Minister in-charge Social Welfare Paul Lyngdoh to the functionaries of the Mawlai Town Dorbar at his office chamber.
Addressing the media, Lyngdoh said, “Today we had released the second installment of funding amounting to Rs 15.65 lakh, which is over and above the first installment of Rs 6 lakh that was released in the month of November last year to facilitate the anti-drug campaign of the Mawlai Town Dorbar, which had taken care to accommodate around 30 of drug addicts, offered them counselling as well as livelihood programmes. Over and above that, the residents, who were offered shelter by the town dorbar with the support from the government of Meghalaya have also received counselling how to deal with the various affliction post their drug addiction phase.”
“With today’s release of funds, the town dorbar will be in a better position to further amplify its activities and also involved more of these drug users, who have in the first instance a good number of them have also returned to normal social life and a few of them also have gone back to their families,” he said.
Expressing extreme delight over the success of the anti-drug campaign, the minister said, “I also acknowledge the support of the chief minister as the chairman of the state level committee of the DREAM project.”
He informed that the Mawlai Town Dorbar is the first traditional institution to come forward and openly offered its support to the government in its fight against drug menace, by providing a space for setting up the rehabilitation centre.
Appealing to all dorbar shnongs to join hands in the implementation of the DREAM project, Lyngdoh said, “We are now appealing to various dorbars to also join hands with the government. One way that we can come to immediately help to the various dorbars is through this DREAM mission to set up what are called half way homes, whereby the dorbars can offer us land and we will set up the required facilities.”
“In the last general meeting convened in the presence of the chief minister, we invited various dorbars, and we have made this open offer to them. A few have responded but then some of these offers still lack the required parameters, which they should meet. For instance, we are looking for lots of lands on which government can set up facilities or if they have community halls, which can be used exclusively for sheltering these inmates during the course of reform programmes,” he said adding “A number of these shnongs have offered their support but for instance they problems with the dorbar shnongs because their halls would only be available for only a certain period of time as and when they have their meetings, they require those halls again so that becomes problematic for us.”
Meghalaya has over 2.5 lakh drug users.
Asked how the government will stop the supply of drugs into the state, the minister however said that this is something which goes beyond one single department of the government, which is why we have conceived the DREAM mission which also involved home police and home department. These are line departments, which need to interact and coordinate their activities.
As far as the entry points are concerned, Lyngdoh said that there is need to further strengthen the performance of the Anti-Narcortic Task Force (ANTF) at the main entry point to the Khasi-Jaintia Hills sector is the East Jaintia Hills district.
“We need to tone up its efficacy and also increase its manpower – that will happen once the current recruitment to the state police and home guards takes place where we will be having more manpower and a few of them will be trained in anti-narcotic activities,”he said.
“A new DGP has just taken over, we will be also incentivizing the state home department through our DREAM project, whereby they will be able to also organize similar programmes from the side of the police and where found suitable, some of these VDPs will also be involved. These are some of the strategies we are adopting but then there are other strategies that we are also contemplating and you will see those results very soon,” he added.
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