INDIA SEEKS TO CUT DEMAND FOR NARCOTICS

NEW DELHI, Feb 10 (Reuters) - India's drug-busters are focusing more on
curbing demand than cutting supplies, Social Justice and Empowerment
Minister Maneka Gandhi said on Wednesday.

"In the past, if you could burn fields and stop it (drugs) from coming,
that was OK," Gandhi said at the launch of a U.N. report on drug demand
reduction. "The emphasis is shifting from curtailing supply to curbing
demand."

In order to control demand for drugs, India was strengthening ties with
non-governmental organisations (NGO) to help drug addicts and spread
awareness about the harm drugs could cause.

Gandhi said 350 NGOs were being funded by the government to help prevent
the spread of drugs and also rehabilitate drug addicts by offering them
vocational training.

In 1997/98 (April-March) India's budget for controlling drugs was $22.3
million.

The United Nations International Drug Control Programme (UNDCP) said in its
report on drugs in the south Asia region that data was scarce on the number
of addicts.

But conservative estimates show there are at least four million addicts in
India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka put together.