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."
The WHO Medical Product Alert said that the four substandard products, reported to it in September, are Promethazine Oral Solution, Kofexmalin Baby Cough Syrup, Makoff Baby Cough Syrup and Magrip N Cold Syrup, all stated to be manufactured by Maiden Pharmaceuticals Ltd located in Haryana.
A pilot was killed and another injured when a Cheetah helicopter of Army Aviation crashed near Arunachal Pradesh's Tawang on Wednesday, officials said. Defence spokesman Lt. Col Mahendra Rawat said that the Cheetah helicopter, which was on a routine sortie, crashed at around 10 a.m. injuring both the pilots and they were immediately evacuated to nearest Military Hospital.
The arrested have been identified as Jaskaran Singh, lodged at Sub Jail in Goindwal Sahib, and Rattanbir Singh, who is out on bail. Police recovered 10 foreign-made pistols, including five .30 bore (made in China) and five 9mm (made in the US) along with eight magazines from both of them, besides a mobile phone concealed by Jaskaran Singh in his barrack.
The module is being jointly operated by Canada-based Lakhbir Singh, alias Landa, Pakistan-based Harvinder Singh Rinda and Italy-based Harpreet Singh, alias Happy. The arrested accused has been identified as Yograj Singh, alias Yog, a resident of Rajoke village in Tarn Taran district.
A police officer said that the narcotic substances were recovered from several soap cases kept in hidden chambers in an 18-wheel truck. The police have arrested the driver Hannan Ali. The vehicle was coming from Manipur and the consignment was most probably to be delivered in Guwahati.
Delhi Police had sought the custody of the arrested persons, which was granted by a duty magistrate on Tuesday. The four persons were arrested on Sunday night. Recently, a fresh case under the provisions of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) was lodged by the Delhi Police against the members of PFI, which was banned for five years by the Centre last week.
