By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Oct 12: The ills of drug abuse and its ramifications will now be also talked about within the four walls of various religious institutions in Meghalaya as the fight against drug menace takes a new turn.
Apart from relying on conventional tactics and customary ways, the state government has opened up a different front by roping in religious institutions, represented by the Shillong All Faith Forum (SAFF), to put up a joint fight.
The government on Thursday had a meeting with the members of SAFF at the Secretariat.
“SAFF in the moral and spiritual way also wants to take up this issue which is a social evil plaguing the state,” said SAFF vice president Naba Bhattacharjee after the meeting.
Talking about their meeting with Social Welfare Minister Paul Lyngdoh, he said, “We met the minister who is also very keen on eradicating the problem. We would like to assist and take up some programmes.”
Bhattacharjee said they will have programmes involving schoolchildren whereby they will disseminate information, create awareness and organise seminars on the issue.
Lyngdoh said the meeting was a follow-up of the last interactive session that he had with all stakeholders.
“The idea behind the meeting was that the various religious institutions wanted to actively support the efforts of the government of Meghalaya to contain and sensitise people, especially the young about the pitfalls and the dangers that await them if they are involved in drug menace in any form,” the minister said.
“We have broadly decided that they will come up with a calendar of activities starting tentatively from December 5 when we purpose to have a day-long seminar and awareness programme involving students from classes 10-12 on the drug scene and the menace of drug trafficking in the state. There will be resource persons from departments like Social Welfare, Home besides religious heads,” he said.
Lyngdoh said not just Shillong, all areas in the state, which have the problem of drugs, will be covered in due course under the initiative.
“They have shown a keen concern and we need their support. The government will not be able to contain this menace without the active support of the civil society. We discussed the idea of having drug awareness programmes, whether at churches, temples or mosques, at regular intervals,” the minister said.
He said the government has authorised the Forum’s secretary, Fr Robert Majaw to coordinate with the Social Welfare department and reach out to schools which will then send their children to participate in the programmes.
“It (drug menace) has to be spoken about within the four walls of the church, the temple, the mosque. Congregations will have to be told we are sitting on top of a volcano. Our children and their future are under threat, so the participation of religious institutions is very crucial in our effort to nip this problem in the bud,” Lyngdoh said.