Rehab inmates back War on Drugs drive
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, April 09 2023:
Inmates at the Anouba Mangal De Addiction Center have conveyed their wishes for the War on Drug campaign to become successful so as to prevent drug use especially by younger generations in future.
Anouba Mangal De Addiction Center, the first State-run de-addiction centre in Manipur at Sunusiphai was inaugurated by Chief Minister N Biren Singh on the occasion of International Day Against Drug Abuse & Illicit Trafficking on June 26, 2022 .
Today, Moirang AC MLA Thongam Shanti Singh went on an inspection tour at the de-addiction centre run by the Social Welfare Department and interacted with the inmates.
During the interaction, the inmates said that some of them were lodged to the de-addiction centre by their parents while some of them came on their own to tread on the path of recovery.
They also said that they didn't want to be at the centre initially "but thanks to the number of counselling we attend we want to live normally again" .
Saying that many of them have even worked out a plan to earn money and live a normal life after getting discharged from the centre, the inmates requested the MLA to give them vocational training to learn new skills and contribute to Nation building.
The inmates also apprised the MLA of their desire to take part in the War on Drugs campaign and make it successful.
Counsellor of the centre Sagolsem Lupachandra, on the other hand, said that 221 inmates have been lodged to the centre since its inception last year of which 141 have been discharged.
Saying that there are many shortages including manpower at the centre, he appealed to the Government to look into the matter.
The counsellor went on to state that the centre has only 5 toilets 'which is not proportionate with the number of inmates' apart from not having a treatment room and tap water facility.
Further stating that the centre has only two wardens and looking after over 50 inmates is difficult to them, Lupachandra appealed to the State Government to look into the matter at the earliest.
He, nonetheless, thanked the Moirang AC MLA for making the surprise visit and enquiring about their needs.
Continuing that they hold a counselling programme every Friday along with the families of the inmates, Lupachandra said that they have been using the kitchen as a counselling room.
Speaking to the media after the interaction, Th Shanti thanked the State Government for setting up the State-run de-addiction centre at his Constituency.
Saying that the centre has been helping people from across Manipur to fight addiction, the MLA maintained that the War on Drug will achieve more success if there are more State-run de-addiction centres in Manipur.
Th Shanti reasoned that many parents of drug addicts who have a limited source of income could not afford the costs of private centres and as such opening more State-run centres would be a boon for the society.
The MLA further stated that he will consult with the authorities concerned to solve the problem of infrastructure shortage and other limitations at the centre.