NGO FILLS GAPS IN DRUG CRUSADE

The administration has handpicked an NGO to complete a task
that police started but found difficult to wrap up -- stamp out the
menace of drug trafficking and abuse in this Upper Assam town for
good.

Pressured by the media and various organisations, the police had
embarked on a mission to "finish off" the drug cartel active and even
made a series of arrests, only to realise that the law was not enough
to keep the guilty people shackled.

"Arrested peddlers and addicts come out of jail and regroup in no
time. They also change their modus operandi," a police officer said.

The district administration has now engaged an NGO to conduct a
follow-up programme in the areas identified as prone to drug
trafficking and abuse, using counselling and rehabilitation as tools.

The programme is being conducted in association with the office of
the joint director of health services and with funds from the
National Rural Health Mission.

The Association for Socio-cultural and Environmental Development has
been assigned the task of conducting 18 sensitisation and awareness
camps in the slums of Dibrugarh town. The first one was held recently
on the premises of Diamond Sporting Club at Loharpatty.

"Our objective is to visit areas where drug trafficking and abuse are
rampant. We will use a series of street plays, roadside poster
exhibitions, door-to-door counselling and free health and blood
screening to combat the menace," the director and chairperson of the
NGO, Ranjita Bordoloi, said.

A "special action team" arrested more than 30 people, mostly peddlers
and addicts, during a prolonged crackdown on the drug trade. But just
when everybody thought that the menace would not rear its head again,
the network of traffickers was back in action.

Dr A. Khan, who has been treating addicts for several years, said
follow-up action was as crucial to the success of a crusade against
drugs as sustained policing.

"The action initiated by the administration and the health department
with the NGO's assistance is a step in the right direction. I have
always maintained that there should be a systematic follow-up of such
cases, which includes medication, social nursing and psychological
treatment for addicts. The NGO will have to work really hard to get
positive results."

The chairman of the Dibrugarh Municipal Board, Biraj Das said
uprooting the drug menace was imperative to restore the glory of this
160-year-old town.

"We cannot progress if we do not get rid of this menace; we are
prepared to support the NGO in its mission of sensitisation and
awareness." Manas Jyoti Dutta, a journalist who has written
extensively on the drug trade in Dibrugarh, called for a sustained
effort from the police to stop drug traffickers from regrouping.
"The police will have to change their methods of dealing with the
drug mafia. They will have to follow up the arrest of any person
related to the trade. It will be back to square one after peddlers
are released if the police sit tight," he said.