By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Nov 4: Sixty individuals from various parts of Mawlai registered themselves with a drug rehabilitation programme, an initiative by Mawlai Town Dorbar in collaboration with Manbha Foundation to combat the issue of drug abuse in Greater Mawlai.
The Mawlai Town Dorbar, a coalition of 17 dorbars, in collaboration with Manbha Foundation has taken the proactive step to address the issue of drug abuse in the Greater Mawlai area by launching the drug rehabilitation programme.
However, out of the 60 registered individuals only 21 attended the inaugural programme on Saturday, following which the registered addicts will be shifted directly to the treatment camp.
The comprehensive rehabilitation programme comprises four key stages to combat the problem of drug abuse.
Firstly, it involves raising awareness among the general public through a public announcement system.
The second stage will focus on gathering data from all the Dorbar Shnongs to assess the number of drug users in the Greater Mawlai area.
The third stage of the programme involves obtaining consent from the families of drug users and providing counseling to all registered individuals.
Finally, in the fourth stage, the addicts will be relocated to a treatment camp at the North East Security Agency Training Camp for a six-month period. The camp will offer detoxification, medical treatment, counseling classes, and skill training sessions conducted by trained professionals.
According to the collected data, there are approximately 300 drug users in Mawlai alone.
SP (City) Vivek Syiem and the vice-chancellor of NEHU expressed their commitment to supporting the programme.
The programme was attended by MDC Teibor Pathaw who was the chief guest, Dr Marco Mitri, Secretary of Mawlai Town Durbar, Rica Lamare from Manbha Foundation and others.