The chairperson of Senate Standing Committee on Narcotics Control Senator Kulsoom Parveen has expressed dissatisfaction over the one-month time for rehabilitation of drug addicts saying course duration should be extended from 6 to 8 months.
"We need to build model centres in every city to provide better treatment to drug addicts and provide them technical training, making them useful citizens", Senator Kulsoom Parveen said while talking to reporters during the standing committee visit to Model Addiction Treatment and Rehabilitation Centre (MATRC) at Tarnol.
The members of standing committee including Senators Nisar Memon, Tahira Latif, Jamal Leghari, Israrullah Zaidi and Moulana Gul Naseeb, were briefed about the progress and performance of the centre by project manager Bushra Hassan.
Brigadier Saleem Tahir, Regional Director Anti Narcotics Force (ANF) welcomed the guests. This single centre would not be enough for a large number of drug addicts and government should build more rehabilitation centres to root out this menace, Kulsoom said.
She stressed the need for launching a vigorous campaign against drug addiction like programme. "We must create awareness among people to discourage the drug use in the society," she said. She added that the standing committee in its next meeting would discuss the working of the center and the efforts Ministry of Narcotics Control has made so far in addressing this problem.
She said that standing committee would provide all possible support to government in legislating for rehabilitation of the drug addicts. "Besides rehabilitation, measures for providing the drug addicts technical training are imperative to give them an opportunity of earning their livelihood", Kulsoom said.
Senator Kulsoom Parveen told reporters that just two centres are not enough for rehabilitation of more than 4 million drug addicts in Pakistan. The number in Rawalpindi and Islamabad and surrounding areas is more than 400,000. "How can this one centre having capacity of 20 people would cater to the demand and help rehabilitate a huge number of addicts", she said.
Senator Nisar Memon stressed the need for launching international level campaign to stop the supply of drugs from Afghanistan saying that the Prime Minister and government should raise the issue with President Karzai and international community to force the Afghan government to discourage poppy cultivation. Increasing poppy cultivation in Afghanistan is a threat not only for Pakistan but the whole world, he said.
Senator Tahira Latif urged the centre management to make sure the religious training of the addicts in order to motivate them to live normal life. Technical training is imperative and special loans would be provided to them to start their small businesses, he said.
Standing Committee members were told that MATRC was set up in June last year and 420 addicts were admitted so far out of which 301 were brought by their families while 112 were picked from streets and seven addicts came personally for treatment. The Committee was also told that 29 patients were provided jobs after treatment.
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