Irfan Yattoo
The Jammu and Kashmir Government On Tuesday said that the number of registered drug addiction OPD cases in the Union Territory has shown a declining trend over the past three years.
In response to a question raised by National Conference MLA Mubarak Gul in the Legislative Assembly regarding the increase in drug addiction and trafficking, the government acknowledged that there had been an alarming rise in drug addiction among the youth of J&K in recent years.
Minister In-charge, Health and Medical Education Department, Sakina Itoo replied that it is a fact that there was an alarming increase of drug addiction among the youth of Jammu and Kashmir.
“But after the initiation of Nasha Mukt Abhiyan since September 2022, the record registration of new cases has shown a slight decreasing trend.
Further there is no evidence of an increase in drug addiction cases,” Itoo read the written reply in the house. She further said that the number of registered drug addiction (OPD) cases in Jammu and Kashmir has shown a declining trend over the past three years.
“This down trend indicates some level of control or improvement in detecting and managing drug addiction cases during this period,” the Minister said adding that the inpatient drug addiction cases have increased significantly over the past three years, despite a decrease in the overall number of new registered cases.
The Minister said that this increase in IPD cases could potentially be attributed to the expansion of IPD services in de-addiction centres in Jammu and Kashmir, leading to more admissions and better access to inpatient care for those requiring intensive treatment or better reporting mechanisms.
However, sharing the steps taken by the Department, the health Minister said that as per the policy level measures, adoption of drug de-addiction policy, constitution of State level policy implementation monitoring, massive campaign ‘Nasha Mukt J&K Abhiyan’, standard operating procedure, Divisional and District level drug De-addiction and Monitoring Committees.
She said that as far as treatment and rehabilitation facilities are concerned, currently, 11 Addiction Treatment Facilities (ATFs) are functional in the Kashmir Division and nine in the Jammu Division, adding.
“OPD services are functional in all 20 districts, while IPD services are available in all nine Government Medical Colleges, catering to both male and female patients.”
The Minister said that to strengthen de-addiction centers, 25 Medical Officers were trained by NIMHANS, Bengaluru, and deployed in their respective districts. The government has also implemented real-time monitoring by collecting daily data through Google Sheets to track trends and measure intervention impact.
“The Health Department has established close collaboration with the Social Welfare Department and Ayush. Furthermore, the government has set up a Tele-MANAS call center to facilitate easy access to treatment for drug victims.”
The Minister said that the government has actively conducted awareness campaigns, seminars, and workshops in schools, colleges, and universities, in collaboration with NGOs and district administrations. Additionally, Project Najaath, launched on November 10, 2023, in Jammu and Pulwama districts, focuses on preventing and treating drug and tobacco addiction.
“The initiative aims to educate individuals, families, and communities about the dangers of substance abuse while providing resources for treatment and rehabilitation. With these concerted efforts, the government remains hopeful that drug addiction cases in J&K will continue to decline in the coming years,” she added.
The health minister said that various steps taken for conducting awareness programmes for general public
“IEC activities, Seminars, workshops, Programmes are being undertaken regularly in schools, colleges, universities along with district administration, NGOs, volunteers and other allied agencies over the menace or ill effects of Drug and Substance Abuse,” she said.
