Shillong, Sep 21: Union Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment, Dr. Virendra Kumar on Tuesday expressed concern about the menace of substance abuse.
The Union Minister was very categorical when he said that drug addiction affects not only a person or family, but the entire society.
He was on a visit to Shillong where he held a meeting with officials of the Department of Social Welfare and other working NGOs.
While expressing his deep concern, Dr. Kumar pointed out that it is a big challenge for the northeastern states who are sharing boundaries with other countries, as these routes are frequently issued by drug peddlers for transit of drugs.
While expressing satisfaction that the state governments are making all-out efforts to curb the menace, he called upon them to work more vigorously so that the youth who are affected by this menace can be linked with the NGOs and the schemes of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
It is the duty of everyone to educate the people about the ill effects of drug abuse and to assist the rehabilitation of victims of substance abuse, he added.
The Minister reaffirmed the commitment of the government to achieve social goals to end drug abuse and strengthen community-centric approaches and outcomes.
Dr. Kumar said that the dream of the Prime Minister of India for a NashaMukt Bharat will be successful only when officials in the government, NGOs and community at large work together to end the menace from its roots.
Meanwhile, the Union Minister also said that his Ministry is all committed to build an inclusive society for the differently abled.
The Minister said that they are the integral part of human resource.
Dr. Kumar also said that the Ministry is working on the vision of ‘SabkaSaathSabkaVikas’ of the Prime Minister, and has implemented various welfare schemes for developing an inclusive society and empowerment of persons with disabilities.
Informing about the work done in last seven years by Ministry, Union Minister said the Government is trying every effort to provide greater rights and entitlements to them by envisioning an inclusive and enabling environment.
The Union Minister also emphasised on skill training programmes for empowerment of the specially abled to bring them in the mainstream of society for overall development of the country and to help them to make self reliant and independent.
The Minister referred to “the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill – 2016†while speaking of the welfare initiative of the government. The types of disabilities have been increased from the erstwhile 7 to 21, he added.
He said that the government through this Bill has increased the reservation for the differently abled from 3 to 4 per cent in Central Government Services and 5 per cent in education for them.
