CCEA approves merger of Drugs Abuse and Defence Services scheme

New Delhi, June 26 : Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs today gave its approval for merger of the schemes of Prevention of Alcoholism and Substance (Drugs) Abuse and General Grant-in-aid programme for financial Assistance in the Field of Social Defence Services and their continuation with a new name the scheme of "Assistance for Prevention of Alcoholism and Substance (Drugs) Abuse and Social Defence Services".

The salient features of the Scheme are as under:

(i) It proposes to integrate the Drug Awareness and Counselling Centres (CCs) and Treatment-cum-Rehabilitation Centres (TCs) of the pre-revised Scheme into a composite Integrated Rehabilitation Centre for Addicts (IRCA) for their comprehensive treatment, rehabilitation and social integration.

(ii) It aims to provide a grant of Rs.900 per month per beneficiary for persons below poverty line and to permit the implementing agencies operating IRCA to charge an amount of Rs.900 per month from the above poverty-line addicts for providing food.

(iii) The honorarium rates for service providers of IRCA will be enhanced keeping in view the honorarium being paid to similar service providers.

(iv) In the IRCA the bed strength will be upgraded to 20 and 40 beds from 15 and 30.

(v) Maximum permissible period of stay in a TC at present is one month. In the IRCA, this will go up to two months depending on the recommendation of a local committee based on peculiarity of each case.

(vi) The revised scheme will strive to achieve convergence and synergy with the efforts of de-addiction units in hospitals and organizations. A system to inter-linkage between NGO activities with those of the Government organizations has been proposed in the revised scheme.

(vii) Panchayati Raj institutions, Indian Red Cross Society and Urban Local Bodies will also be eligible to run IRCAs. They will also be associated in monitoring and evaluation of the scheme.

The revised scheme intends to benefit people directly affected by substance abuse and alcoholism and many more people who are either care givers or are victims of the deviant behaviour of the affected people. It introduces the concept of "Whole Person Recovery" and provides all the services viz identification, counselling, treatment and rehabilitation and, social integration of the drug addicts under one roof.

ANI