Punjab to sign MoU with un agency to intensify anti-drugs drive
Chandigarh: Punjab will soon sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) as part of its efforts to intensify its war against drugs. The decision followed a meeting here on Wednesday between Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh and UNODC representative Sergey Kapinos. The MoU will be signed between the Health Department, the Special Task Force (STD) on drugs and UNODC in the second week of June, an official spokesperson disclosed later. It was decided at the meeting to develop a roadmap for the project implementation, for which a Project Committee will be set up. The committee will be headed by the Principal Secretary Health, with STF Chief ADGP Harpreet Singh Sidhu as co-convenor, besides two representatives of UNODC. The Chief Minister directed the Health Secretary to finalise the terms of the MoU after consultation with all stakeholders to identify the areas of cooperation. Pre-project activity will start immediately after signing of the MoU and the execution will move forward full steam as soon as the project funding is cleared by the UN, it was decided. Kapinos appreciated the work done by the Captain Amarinder government in fighting the drugs problem, saying the political will that had been shown by the state could deliver exemplary results and set an example in combatting the menace not only in India but the entire region. Referring to Punjab’s vulnerability to drugs on account of its proximity to Pakistan, he spoke about the need to involve the clergy and the gurdwaras to create awareness and reach out to the victims. He also stressed the need to address the issue of drugs abuse in prisons, underlining the importance of prison rehabilitation and reforms. The UNODC representative offered the agency’s help in improving law enforcement and policing to combat drugs. He suggested e-programmes in Hindi and Punjabi to connect with the local youth, which he said was the most vulnerable group. He informed the chief minister that the agency’s programmes involving mothers had proved very successful in other countries, and could be emulated in Punjab. The Chief Minister asked the representative to share details of their project in the north-east and its results. During the meeting, Sidhu spoke about the three-pronged strategy adopted by STF to combat the drugs menace. Besides law enforcement to control supply, preventive action was being taken at the district level and rehabilitation was being overseen by the health department, said Sidhu. He informed the meeting that 30 lakh students and 10 lakh adults were being involved in the anti-drugs awareness drive in the state. In his presentation, Kapinos shared details of the `Star Strategy’ developed by UNODC ROSA to facilitate the state government in protecting the health of drug abusers, including measures to ensuring their holistic rehabilitation by providing evidence based treatment, such as Opioid Substitution Theory for people with Opioid disorder, which in turn would reduce the demand for illegal opioids. The representative also informed the Chief Minister about the Opioid Treatment Interventions being piloted by UNODC in Kapurthala and Bathinda and promised assistance to the state government in scaling up of operations in these areas. The UNODC strategy listed measures to guarantee security of other citizens by adopting a model of gender inclusiveness with targeted programmes for women drug users, women sex partners of drug users, women prisoners and women living with HIV. Identifying society capacity building as one of the most important needs to counter drug abuse by youngsters, it underlined the need for a combination of training, mentoring and support for networking with civil society groups in the State. The presentation proposed steps to sensitize the various agencies involved in the fight against drugs and encourage them to consider drug abuse as a health issue rather than a security concern. The police authorities would be trained in public health and human rights approaches, while developing model principles for harmonization of drug law and public health law, according to the UNODC strategy. —PTC News
