Survey detects 175 drug dependent children
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, July 13 2014:
Four church bodies of Churchand-pur town namely RCP, EFCI, EBC and ESC have conducted a household survey in Churachandpur town in the month February this year so as to find a picture on juvenile drug abuse.
The survey covered 1950 households and 175 children between the age group of 13 to 17 were found to be drug dependent.
Sources revealed that there is no Government scheme in the district to provide medical treatment nor support system and other necessary rehabilitation packages for the poor drug dependent children.
The church leaders only prayed to the Almighty to make the children overcome from the grip of drug dependency.
Expressing the purpose of the survey, pastor Nicky Thanga mentioned that the survey was undertaken by church leadership considering the rising trend of drug abuse and subsequent addiction of young children to intoxicating drugs in the district and also lack of Government scheme in bringing the drug dependent children to mainstream.
Sources informed The Sangai Express that four Drug Rehabilitation Centres namely Mangal Rehabilitation Centre, LRRC, Samarita and New Life Addiction and Rehabilitation Centre are now operating in the district under Ministry of Social Welfare, Govt.of India.
However, these four rehabilitation centres render services only to people aged 18 and above.
In addition to it, there is no provision for the drug dependent children at the Opiate Substitute Therapy which provides harm reduction programme to the Injecting Drug Users under the sponsorship of Mani- pur AIDS Control Society.
Pastor Nicky Thanga said that out of the 175 drug dependent children, 11 male children are now staying at Observation Home which is managed by Health Integrated Ministry located at M Ram-thar.
He further added that out of the 11 children, only four children have their parents.
And out of the remaining 164 children, 86 are girls and 78 are boys.
Out of the 86 girls and 78 boys, the pastor continued, 47 girls and 22 boys do not have their parents.
The parentless children are living with their relatives and have given up formal education.
Pastor Nicky stated that PRISCILLA Home Counseling and Training Centre, New Lamka managed by Churchandpur Christian Women Fellowship with the public and institutional donation has been rendering services for the drug dependent girl children.
Generally children tasted Khaini first.
They then consumed Talab, then inhaled Fevicol, Dendrite, then start consuming World is Your tablets and so on such as SP, RP, heroin, brown sugar etc,.
He told a story of a girl who was an orphan of a drug dependent parent.
The girl used to cry all the time at the age of 3 years but stopped crying only when she was served with dendrite for inhaling.
The girl is eleven years old and undergoing counseling along with vocational training.
It further narrated that there are four common features in the life of girls who are abusing drugs.
Drug abuse leads a girl to drug dependency, then they becomwe commercial sex workers, and are infected by HIV/AIDS and also Hepatitis C.And for the boys, they steadily develop a tendency of stealing public property.
Moreover, the child right activists of the State have expressed their concern on the rising trend of drug abuse by children in Manipur and also sought the attention of the Govt.in order to contain the drug menace which is alarming in the State owing to cross border influx of drugs smugglers in the hill districts as death penalty is awarded to drug smugglers in the neighboring country (Myanmar).
The Manipur Alliance for Child Rights on Friday visited Churchandpur district on Friday last and detected the absence of rehab centres for the drug dependent children and the president of the Alliance K Pradipkumar expressed that the problem of drug dependent children has direct effect to the human resource of the State.
In this issue, the president of the Community Network for Empowerment (CoNE) RK Nolinikanta expressed that the issue of drug dependent children is not only a problem of the Churchandpur district but also for all the districts of the State.
Nolinikanta further said that there is no provision for drug dependent children of providing treatment in the rehab centre meant for the adults.
He then stressed on the need of setting up of rehab centre for giving necessary treatment of drug dependent children in every district of the State.
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