DUFHRJ demands immediate halting of SWD Inspection Committee's assessment visit to rehab centres
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, November 20 2022: The Drug Users Federation for Human Rights and Justice (DUFHRJ) has demanded immediate halting of the ongoing inspection and assessment of de-addiction centres conducted by the Inspection Committee formed by the Department of Social Welfare.

Speaking to media persons today at the office of Community Network for Empowerment (CoNE) located at Keishamthong Hodam Leirak, Airport Road, DUFHRJ advisor RK Nalinikanta claimed that the ongoing inspection and assessment visit conducted by the Inspection Committee to regulate non-funded rehabilitation centres in Manipur is against the approved guidelines for setting up Treatment & rehabilitation of Users for Social Transformation (TRUST) centres which has been published in the Manipur Gazette, a statement issued by DUFHRJ has shared.

While highlighting that DUFHRJ was formed with its members from various drug user organisations of the State to control human rights violations carried out in certain drug de-addiction centres of the State, RK Nalinikanta also pointed out that the questionnaire used to deduce whether the drug rehabilitation centre is fit to run the centre or not does not mention any questions pertaining to human rights violation, mode of enrolment of clients and conviction cases of any of the staff or chief functionary of the rehabilitation centre.

"These are the basic questions which will decide whether to grant registration certificate to the centre or not and this has also been clearly mentioned in the Gazette.

Side-lining all these questions, the Inspection Committee has been putting forth unrealistic and unreasonable questions and deciding the fate of drug treatment centres which is very unfortunate", RK Nalinikanta complained.

He also raised doubts over the transparency and sincerity of the selection procedure of the Inspection Committee, upon whose report and recommendation, the registration certificate to drug rehabilitation centres will be issued, the statement added.

In this regard, he stated that the Committee comprises of three members and a chairperson (District Social Welfare Officer of the district concerned).

The members should be one finance officer, one expert who has experienced working in drug treatment/ rehabilitation centres and one representative from the drug users community, he said.

However, the selection of the community representative seems arbitrary as community members working in the field for many years were never informed officially and kept in the dark, he claimed.

Pointing out that as per the information provided in the Gazette, a person cannot be brought to a rehabilitation centre by meira paibi associations, club members and police, adding that the person has to be brought before a judicial magistrate or a police officer not below the rank of a DSP and with the consent of the person to be admitted to the centre, RK Nalinikanta informed that no questions pertaining to the above mentioned facts were included in the questionnaire.

Further, he called it "irrelevant" for the Committee to deduct marks when informed that the staff of the centres did not receive any training arguing that the State Government is yet to provide training or any other means of empowering measures to these centres.

RK Nalinikanta suggested that instead of asking irrelevant questions, there is a need to enquire on staff sufficiency and proper infrastructure and training, following which a training can be conducted for them and the development of a format to be followed by the drug treatment centre.

The centres should be informed that another round of inspection visit would be conducted after 6 months and all those centres found not following the set rules would be denied issue/re-is-sue of registration, he maintained.

He also expressed apprehension that even if the approved guidelines are followed and regulations take place sans questions and queries on human rights violation during the inspection visit by the Inspection Committee, the cases of unwanted incidents would still continue unabated.

As such, he appealed to the Government to direct the Inspection Committee to halt its visit till the framing of the questionnaire is in line with Manipur Gazette.

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