Bhubaneswar: Data furnished by the Union Women and Child Development Ministry claimed that Odisha is second after Maharashtra to get maximum central assistance for drug-de-addiction programmes.
At the same time, the ministry data also claimed that Odisha is the second state in the country to host the maximum number of de-addiction centres after Maharashtra.
Data submitted by the ministry in the Lok Sabha recently claimed that the state is home to 41 de-addiction centres. Maharasthra on the other hand hosts the maximum 70 de-addiction centres. Other states which host more such centres after Maharashtra and Odisha are Karnataka (36 centres) and Tamil Nadu (35).
While the ministry in 2018-19 sanctioned Rs 1370 lakh to Maharashtra (the highest allocation to any state), Odisha received Rs 846 lakh for the same, second in the country to get the highest allocation for drug-de-addiction programme.
The central allocation to Odisha to fight drug abuse has only increased over last three years. The state received Rs 569 lakh in 2016-17 while it saw inflow of Rs 622 lakh in the next fiscal while the amount went up to Rs 846 lakh in 2018-19, the ministry data given in Parliament said.
The data was given by the Union Minister for Women and Child Development Smriti Irani in a written statement in Lok Sabha. “A study conducted by the National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi on the magnitude of substances used in India presents major findings of the survey in terms of proportion of Indian population using various substances and those affected by substance use disorders,” the minister said in her written statement.
According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report of 2018, the state witnessed a total of 17,228 cases under Liquor and Narcotic Drugs Related Acts.