Rupnagar, March 10: The war on drugs campaign launched by the Punjab government under the leadership of Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann to make the state drug free will play a decisive role in making Punjab drug free and people from every section of the society will have to cooperate to eradicate drugs.

These words were expressed by Punjab Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr. Balbir Singh while talking to the media after visiting the Rupnagar De-Addiction Center and taking stock of health services.

Giving information, Health Minister Dr. Balbir Singh said that to eradicate drugs, support groups are being formed in all the OOAT clinics, drug de-addiction centers and rehabilitation centers of the state in collaboration with Narcotics Anonymous. Apart from this, he said that a 15-member health committee will be formed in the villages of the entire state, in which a lady panchayat member will be the president of this committee, ASHA worker secretary, besides ex-servicemen of the village, teachers, panchayat members, some NGO doing good work and people will be included. He said that by working at the grassroots level, this committee will make the entire state drug-free.

He said that drugs are not only in Punjab but also affect other states of the country like Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and other states, which is evidenced by the patients admitted from Himachal Pradesh in the De-Addiction Center of Civil Hospital Rupnagar. He said that due to the presence of pharmacy factories in Nalagarh-Baddi (Himachal Pradesh) adjacent to Rupnagar (Punjab), drug addicts can easily obtain synthetic drugs, which are completely banned in Punjab.

Dr. Balbir Singh gave a stern warning to the drug peddlers and said that they should either give up the drug business or leave Punjab. We have to save the youth of the state and those who lead the youth of Punjab on the wrong path will not be spared under any circumstances. The properties built by drug peddlers by selling drugs will also be demolished so that no one can trap the youth of Punjab in the habit of drugs again.

Health Minister said that the Punjab government is taking various steps to get drug addicts off the drugs and include them in the mainstream of the society. Giving information in this regard, he said that 3700 patients are registered in the OOAT clinics of the Distt Rupnagar.

He said that these patients who use drugs through injections often become victims of hepatitis and HIV, TB etc. These patients now want to leave their hellish life of drugs and return to normal life. Along with this, in the 'Yudh Nashian Virudh' campaign, after getting drug addicts off the drugs, the government will also provide them with vocational training courses and after training, they will be provided loans under various schemes of the government.

Appealing to the women of the state, he said that if any member of a family is trapped in the swamp of drugs, then he should be brought to the government drug de-addiction center and the state government promises that by saving the life of their family member, they will be given a chance to live a healthy life again.

Along with this, he informed that all the counselors and staff of drug de-addiction centers will be provided with new counseling techniques and training so that they can treat the patients as soon as possible and give them a healthy life.

He said that the private drug de-addiction centers of the state will also be checked. That while he himself will keep a close eye on the functioning of these centers, these centers will also be checked from time to time. If the matter of selling narcotic pills outside any private drug de-addiction center comes to his notice, strict action will be taken against the managers of the concerned center.

On this occasion, Sub-Divisional Magistrate Rupnagar Mr. Sachin Pathak, Civil Surgeon Rupnagar Dr. Tarsem Singh, DSP Rupnagar S. Rajpal Singh Gill and other senior officials were present.