Punjab's private drug rehab centres facing closure
Darpan News Desk IANS, 09 Feb, 2023 12:58 PM
Chandigarh, Feb 9 (IANS) The Punjab Drug Rehabilitation Centres Union (PDRCU) on Thursday sought intervention of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to review a policy of the previous Congress government that has brought such centres being run in the private sector to the verge of closure.
Members of the special committee set up by the PDRCU said they have given many representations to officials of the Health Department to revoke the policy.
Kunal Lakhanpal, a member of the committee, said: "In 2020 the then Congress government mandated that every rehab centre should have a psychiatrist, an MBBS doctor and a nurse on its payroll. It is illogical as no medicine is to be given at these centres. We admit people after detoxification. Such people are provided counselling. The idea is to make them mentally strong so that they don't fall prey to drugs again."
Another member said Angad Singh said that the policy lead to high operating costs, which "we cannot meet given the fact that we run small centres and the fee charged from patients is also bare minimum as the affected families, by and large, are poor".
Under the policy, some private rehab centres have already been served with closure notices. Some have even closed. There are cases where rehab centres have shifted from Punjab and set up bases in neighbouring states.
Another committee member Sanjeev Sharma said: "In case the policy is enforced in its current form, 74 private rehab centres will be shut down."
Prabhat Kumar, the lawyer of Lalu Prasad Yadav has filed a bail bond of Rs 10 lakh in the Ranchi high court. Besides, another Rs 1 lakh bail bond was also submitted in the court by Ranjan Kumar and Anant Singh, his bail guarantors in the court.
According to the official, a tip-off was received following which an NCB team raided the specified locations and recovered 50 kg high quality heroin, 47 kg suspected narcotics, Rs 30 lakh cash, cash counting machines and other incriminating material.
The Special Cell of Delhi Police has arrested one person from West Bengal who is said to be a key accused in the April 16 communal clashes in Jahangirpuri, official sources said here on Thursday. The accused, identified as Farid alias Nilu, was arrested from his relative's place at Tamluk in East Midnapore district of West Bengal.
The community is awaiting the release of Sikh prisoners who have served more than their life sentence in jail and have not been released even after the same was approved by the Centre in 2019 on the occasion of the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev.
The accused have been identified as Mohammad Riyaz, Ankit Kumar, Kishan Yadav, Manorath, Pooja, Lovely Sharma, Neha Kashyap and Sangeet. Falling for the lucrative offer, the victim transferred Rs 8,500 online, only to receive a fake insurance certificate for his vehicle.
The official informed that a call was received at 9.30 pm regarding the incident after which one fire tender was pressed into service. At the time of filing this report, the fire tender was yet to return.
