Delhi CM inaugurates Drug-addiction Centre in Tihar Jail

New Delhi, Jan 4 (UNI) Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit today inaugurated a new 120-bed Drug De-addiction Centre in capital's high security Tihar Jail complex.

The centre, constructed at a cost of Rs 1.76 crore and housed in the jail hospital premises, would enable the prison administration to provide uniform de-addiction treatment to all drug addicts under one roof.

The location of de-addiction center in the prison hospital would be advantageous for those addicts who were also suffering from other diseases. There was a provision of pathological lab, psychiatric and counselling facilities in the new centre.

With the commissioning of this de-addiction centre, all drug addicts scattered in various jails would be shifted to this building so that their treatment programmes were effectively monitored.

Speaking on the occasion, Ms Dikshit said jails in Delhi had earned distinction of qualitative reform centres that provided opportunities of positive change in attitude to inmates who felt transformed, self-sufficient, trained and reformed citizen after their release from jails.

Her government had been developing model jails in Delhi which were, no doubt, the best in India and Asia, she claimed.

Delhi Health Minister Yoganand Shastri, MLA H S Balli, Principal Secretary (Home) O P Kelkar and DG (Prison) B K Gupta were present on the occasion.

About eight to ten per cent of Delhi's population comprised of drug addicts. Every newly admitted prisoner in the jail is medically examined on the very first day of his admission to identify his medical status so that prisoners having history of drug addiction or suffering from serious ailments were identified and their treatment started from that very day.

Persons identified as drug addicts were segregated from the others and treatment plans for them included drug detoxification and rehabilitation therapies.

Once the prisoner underwent detoxification process for about 15 days, he was shifted to Drug Rehabilitation Center being run with the help of NGOs.

The rehabilitation process included counselling, meditation and therapeutic methods to wean them away from their addiction habits.

More than 5,100 prisoners took de-addiction treatment from various jails during 2006.

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