Punjab-Organise special block level medical camps for detoxification of drug addicts: CM

Chandigarh, June 18, 2014: In a leap forward towards ensuring the rehabilitation of the drug addicts in the state, the Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has deployed 15 IAS and 13 senior police officers to jointly monitor the overall functioning of special medical camps organized at block level to detoxify the drug addicts across the state on one hand and initiate efforts for rehabilitation on the other.
A decision to this effect was taken by the Chief Minister while presiding over a high level meeting of the senior officers of Health and Police department at his residence on Wednesday late evening.
Taking part in the deliberations, the Chief Minister, while underscoring the need for carrying out detoxification of the drug addicts on a war footing, said that this daunting task could be accomplished only if block level special medical camps were organized in the Community Health Centers under the supervision of medical experts. He said that with the Police tightening noose around the drug peddlers in the state, the demand of treatment for the drug de-addiction has witnessed a rapid surge, due to which the need of the hour was to impart de-addiction facilities to the drug addicts at their nearest places. Badal asked the Principal Secretary Health to ensure that block level special medical camps were organized across the state in which the drug addicts must be imparted quality medical facilities to wean them away from the menace of drugs.
The Chief Minister further said that the services of Civil and Police Administration under the Deputy Commissioner and Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) respectively along with the Civil Surgeon and senior medical officers should also be roped in for such camps to ensure prompt deliverance of facilities to the patients coming to such camps. Badal said that the 15 IAS and 13 senior Police officers, who have been allotted one/ two districts each, would oversee the entire arrangements in the medical camps within their jurisdiction adding that they would coordinate with the Principal Secretary Health to plug any loophole in the system to ensure best treatment to the drug addicts. Likewise, he also asked the Principal Secretary Health to establish a control room in Chandigarh to ensure the quick supply of medicines to such camps besides ensuring the other logistic support to them.
The Chief Minister was apprised during the meeting that the Special Secretary Health and Family Welfare Vikas Garg has been appointed the Nodal officer at Chandigarh to coordinate for the drug de-addiction operations across the state. Likewise, it was also informed that a control room comprising of the Medical experts has also been constituted to ensure the regular drug supply and logistic support to these camps.  Principal Secretary Health also apprised the Chief Minister that three warehouses with abundant supply of medicines have been set up in the state to ensure uninterrupted supply to these camps.
The Chief Minister underscored the need to run these special camps on a campaign basis with firm commitment, dedication and missionary zeal to get the desired results. Badal also asked the Principal Secretary Health to immediately put up a comprehensive proposal for the appointment of Psychiatrists as per the requirement so that the mass de-addiction program could be implemented in the right earnest.   
Prominent amongst those present on the occasion included Director General of Police Sumedh Saini, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister SK Sandhu, Principal Secretary Health and Family Welfare Vinnie Mahajan, Special Principal Secretaries to Chief Minister Gaggandip Singh Brar and KJS Cheema, Additional DGP Hardeep Singh Dhillon, Managing Director Punjab Health Systems Corporation Husaan Lal and Inspector General Police (Narcotic Cell) Ishwar Singh and Head of the Psychiatry Department PGIMER Dr. Ajit Awasthi.
Meanwhile as per the directions of the Chief Minister IAS officer KS Pannu would monitor the functioning of block level Special Medical camps in Amritsar and Tarn Taran districts, SR Ladhar in Gurdaspur and Pathankot districts, JM Balamurugan in Hoshiarpur and Kapurthala districts, Dr. Roshan Sunkaria in Mansa and Barnala districts, A.Venu Prasad in Ropar and Fatehgarh Sahib districts and KJS Cheema in Bathinda and Muktsar Sahib districts. Likewise, R.Venkat Ratnam, Dipinder Singh, Rakesh Kumar Verma, AS Pannu, RK Chaudhari, VK Sharma, Anurag Aggarwal, Mandeep Singh Sandhu and Dr. Arvinder Singh would oversee the operations in Jalandhar, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar, Ludhiana, Patiala, Sangrur, Ferozepur, Fazilka, Moga and Faridkot districts respectively.
Likewise, senior Police officer Arunpal Singh would supervise operations in Amritsar and Tarn Taran district, Naresh Kumar Arora in Gurdaspur, Pathankot and Batala, Lok Nath Angra in Jalandhar district, Naunihal Singh in Hoshiarpur, Nawanshaher and Kapurthala districts, Shashi Prabha Dwivedi in Ropar and Mohali districts, Parmajit Singh Grewal in Patiala district, SK Singh in Sangrur and Barnala districts, AK Pandey in Fatehgarh Sahib and Khanna, BK Uppal in Ludhiana district, Surinder Parmar in Moga district, Khubi Ram in Ferozepur and Fazilka districts, Rakesh Chander in Faridkot and Muktsar districts and RPS Brar in Bathinda and Mansa districts.