Punjab AAP co-president questions drug de-addiction, rehabilitation efforts

CHANDIGARH: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Aman Arora raised questions on efforts being made by Punjab government to tackle the problem of drug addiction. In a press statement, he said the state government is not making sincere efforts in this direction.
According to the Punjab AAP co-president, the government constituted the state board for de-addiction and rehabilitation in June 2014 but nothing much has been done so far.

The Sunam MLA said as per the reply of the health minister to his question in Punjab Vidhan Sabha, the state board for de-addiction and rehabilitation has met only four times since its constitution in 2014. “It shows the seriousness of efforts being made by the state government to curb the drug addiction problem in Punjab. The working of the Congress government in this regard is similar to that of the previous SAD-BJP government,” he said.

He also questioned budget allocation and expenditure for the purpose. “From 2013-14 to 2017-18, the government allocated Rs 326.11 crore but only Rs 161.17 crore were spent, which is just 49% of the total allocation. More than anything, in 2017-18, the government has allocated only Rs 6 crore for the purpose,” Arora said in the release.