Manipur government’s commitment to open five state-run de-addiction centres in the state, as announced recently by Chief Minister N Biren Singh, is indeed noteworthy. He had said, there are 1.3 lakh drug addicts in the state as per government data. We would say, the move is not only of bringing back drug users to the mainstream, but it is the state's recognition of drug users as victims and not as criminals.
Ever since the much vaunted ‘War on Drugs’ campaign started, the line between drug runners and users had been blurred. Some time back, vigilante groups including youths loyal to the ruling party were on the warpath against drug addicts and small-time peddlers with police remaining as mere onlookers. They never bothered with the distinction between big time drug smugglers and petty dealers or drug addicts who were arrested with small amounts of drugs meant for consumption or how should we treat the drug addicts.
Drug addicts are no longer treated as the scum of the earth in the rest of the world. Rather, they are victims of the unrest and turmoil in our society beset with lack of opportunities, unemployment and corruption besides several other factors. But now, the chief minister has set the distinction and law enforcers should be aware of it. He also expressed unhappiness with some private de-addiction centres as reports found them running in a business model.
As reports say, there are more than 100 drug rehabilitation centres being run by private organizations in Manipur alone, and God knows how many of them are operating legally or with authorisation from the state Social Welfare department. One still shudders in remembering the wanton acts of cruelty and of moral debasement in de-addiction centres during the height of heroin addiction and widespread drug abuse by youths in the 80s and 90s.
In one particular de-addiction centre in the southern district of Churachandpur, addicts were chained like animals and made to wallow in mud and slime fully naked. In those days, addicts were tonsured and excommunicated by the society and the vigilante groups while the police were at wit’s end in dealing with the problem and most of the time they had no other option but to send the drug addicts to jail for a period of time as per the desire of the family. There was simply not a single protocol during those days for dealing with the drug addicts.
Recently, representatives of such rehab centres apprised the state Chief Minister of the problems faced by them for lack of proper regulations. It is the responsibility of the Social Welfare department to monitor the functioning of all de-addiction or rehabilitation centres in the state, and all those centres operating without proper sanction or expertise should be disbanded.
According to international standards, a rehabilitation centre should have a Warden, at least a doctor on duty, trained counsellors probably from among reformed addicts and male nurses. Besides, the centre should have entertainment and recreational facilities for the inmates. During the stay at the centre, it is absolutely required of the staff members to maintain close association with the family members of the inmate.
The mission for bringing back the drug addicts into the mainstream must be followed and the rule-book or the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) established by the state authorities for operation and running of such rehab centres must be put into practice. As per the SOP, if any drug user is picked up, he should be produced before the executive magistrate, and the verification should be done by a police officer who is not below the rank of a DSP.
The drug user has every right to choose the rehabilitation centre, as per the protocol. However, the SOP is followed more in violation and concerned authorities simply do not seem to find time for monitoring these centres. In fact, rehab centres have become a booming business for some ex-addicts where the family is charged an amount ranging from Rs 8,000 to 12,000 per month for housing an inmate. In such circumstances, many more instances of torture and even death are bound to happen. Time for the state to act.
