Pratima Bhowmik, Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment.
| Photo Credit: Kamal Narang
The Mental Health Care Act, 2017 defines substance abuse problems as mental illness, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment knowledgeable the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, in response to a query about whether or not the federal government recognised this.
Responding to a query from YSRCP MP P.V. Midhun Reddy, Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Pratima Bhoumik cited the definition for mental illness from the laws and mentioned that “substance abuse disorders are included in the definition of mental illness in India”.
The Union authorities’s measures to handle this concern come beneath the umbrella of the National Action Plan for Drug Demand Reduction (NAPDDR). This entails operating the Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyan in 372 susceptible districts, 340 built-in rehabilitation centres for addicts, 48 community-based peer-led intervention centres, and 71 outreach and drop-in centres.
‘Addicts are victims’
In addition to this, the federal government mentioned that it supported the establishing of 46 dependancy remedy amenities as a part of a programme at present operating beneath the aegis of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi.
The Social Justice Ministry allotted ₹200 crore to the NAPDDR programme in 2022-23, growing funding in the subsequent fiscal yr to ₹311 crore.
At a current occasion in New Delhi the place new dependancy remedy centres had been being just about inaugurated, MoS Home Nityanand Rai had mentioned that the Social Justice Ministry’s marketing campaign to cut back drug demand was operating in tandem with the Home Ministry’s coordinated motion in opposition to drug suppliers and traffickers. Mr. Rai mentioned that this was in retaining with Home Minister Amit Shah’s name to deal with addicts as victims and prosecute suppliers and traffickers.
