Terming his two days visit to the drug de-addiction centers across the state a very fruitful exercise, the Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today said that it would give a major boost to the state government’s crusade against drugs besides helping in de-addiction and rehabilitation of drug addicts across the state.The Chief Minister, accompanied by the experts and key officers of the Health department, today visited the drug de-addiction centers in Faridkot, Ferozepur, Moga, Sangrur, Patiala, Barnala and Mansa.Interacting with the media persons on the second day of his whirlwind tour, the Chief Minister said that this two days exercise has further helped him in understanding the remedy of the voracious problem of drug addiction. He said that this visit has enabled him to take stock of the services imparted by these drug de-addiction centers to the drug addicts adding that he would try to further improve the services provided by these centers after consulting the experts and officers accompanying him. Mr. Badal said that it was a fact that drug de-addiction centers have proved to be a boon for the drug addicts who want to shun this curse and return back to normal life.
Likewise, the Chief Minister reiterated that in order to make sure that the de-addicted youth could live a life with dignity; the state government would open 22 Rehabilitation centers across the state within three months. Mr. Badal said that Patiala would have the 150 bedded drug de-addiction and rehabilitation center, equipped with the ultra modern facilities. He said that the prefabricated buildings for other 21 centers would be constructed by an agency of the Government of India (GoI), which would accomplish this task within three months. Mr. Badal that in order to make sure that drug addicts do not fall prey to this menace again special emphasis would be laid on imparting skill training to them in these centers for enabling them to be self reliant in future.
The Chief Minister also reiterated the firm commitment of the state government to check drug peddling in the state by cutting its supply line. He said that while they have requested the Union government to check the smuggling of drugs from across the borders, strenuous efforts would also be made to ensure that the supply of poppy husk from Rajasthan, where it was sold freely, was cut. Mr. Badal said that he would soon take up this issue with the Union government.When asked to comment on the announcement made by his Haryana counterpart Mr. Bhupinder Singh Hooda to constitute a separate committee for the management of Gurudwaras in the state, the Chief Minister said that it was a cheap step aimed at scoring brownie points in media. Mr. Badal said that it was unfortunate that the Congress was irrelevantly meddling in the religious affairs of the Sikhs adding that the Congress party was walking on the footsteps of tyrannical Mughal rule to weaken the Sikh power. He reiterated that after operation Blue Star and anti-Sikh riots of 1984, this was the third major assault of Congress against the Sikh community.
The Chief Minister further said that by taking this step the Congress party has inflicted a serious blow to the Sikh psyche as none of the true Sikh wants any separate committee for the management of Gurudwaras. Mr. Badal said that though the Haryana government was completely incompetent to enact this separate committee but it has taken this step just for political gains. However he said that this politically motivated step of the Haryana Congress would not succeed as the party would be completely routed out in the coming assembly polls of the state. “I firmly believe that the Congress would never succeed in its nefarious designs to pide the Sikh community and this Committee will never come into existence” added Mr. Badal.
The Chief Minister said that the worst thing was that even leaders like Lok Sabha MP Captain Amarinder Singh and state Congress Chief Partap Singh Bajwa were justifying the decision of their party instead of showing resentment against this irrelevant and unnecessary action of the Haryana Congress government. He said that these leaders have apparently forgotten the countless sacrifices made by the Sikhs for forming the Shiromani Gurudwara Prabhandak Committee. Mr. Badal further said that for the sake of their narrow political gains these leaders have became puppet in the hands of their party high command and were acting as a tool to weaken the power of Sikhs and were bent hell upon to tarnish the glorious legacy of Sikh panth.
On the occasion the Chief Minister also had detailed discussions with the drug addicts undergoing treatment in these centers about the kind of services being provided to them. The drug addicts and their families expressed deep satisfaction over the treatment offered to the addicted youth and also lauded the unprecedented steps by the state government for eradicating the menace of drugs from the state. Mr. Badal also took the first hand information about the infra structure and the medical facilities being offered by these centers to the drug addicts.The Chief Minister was accompanied by Principal Secretary Health Mrs. Vinnie Mahajan, his Special Principal Secretary Mr. KJS Cheema, Special Secretary Health Mr. Vikas Garg and renowned Health expert Dr. Ajit Awasthi.