62 yrs & counting: Doctor battles drug addiction

CHANDIGARH: Dr Rajinder Singh has been treating drug addicts and psychiatry patients for 62 years.

Talking to TOI on International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking on Tuesday, he said, "I feel very disturbed when I see patients being discriminated by the society or family. The society needs to understand that addiction is an illness too. The society should show empathy towards the patients and understand that recovering from addiction is a taxing process".

In the Army, Col Singh served as the senior adviser in psychiatry. It was only after his retirement from the Army in 1991 that he was reinvigorated by his wife to serve the society once more by helping drug addicts.

Teaming up with his wife, he opened Bhai Kanhaiya Charitable Dispensary in Sri Guru Teg Bahadur Gurdwara, Sector 34, Chandigarh, for patients who can't afford medical treatment. Dr Rajinder has also been serving as a volunteer with Kalgidhar Trust, which runs two drug de-addiction centres, as director and has attended thousands of patients till now.

He said the root cause of drug addiction in Punjab is narcotic terrorism, complex nexus of drug business in the state and peer pressure among youth. "Inculcating moral values by touching the hearts of people is a sure-fire way to eliminate drug addiction," Dr Rajinder said.