Tripura CM raises alarm: 1,100 youths identified as IV drug users, HIV-positive
Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha on Tuesday expressed concern over the rising use of intravenous drug injections among students and youths with around 1,100 of them identified as IV drug users and HIV-positive in the state.
Inaugurating the maternal and child health wing at Gomati District Hospital in southern Tripura, he said that after Assam, the maximum drugs were seized and destroyed in Tripura.
Reiterating the state government’s mission to make Tripura as “drug free state”, Saha, who also holds the Home, Health and Family Welfare portfolios, said that the state government has decided to set up eight drug de-addiction centres in eight districts to facilitate addicted youths becoming free from the menace.
"Drugs smuggled from Myanmar are coming to Tripura through Mizoram and Assam and going to Bangladesh through clandestine routes. Our security forces are always alert to curb the illegal drugs peddling,” he said.
Saha claimed that during the 35-year old regime of the Left parties, illicit cultivation of ganja (marijuana) flourished tremendously and earlier, they were not aware about the ganja cultivation in such a vast areas.
Various government agencies are working relentlessly to make Tripura a drug-free state, the Chief Minister said and urged the parents and guardians to remain alert about their children so that they do not become influenced or become victims of the drugs.
Meanwhile, Assam Rifles' Deputy Inspector General, Brigadier Manish Rana on Tuesday highlighted the crucial role of the paramilitary force in maintaining security and its joint efforts with state authorities for societal benefits.
During a media interaction, Brigadier Rana emphasised their commitment in empowering the youths in Tripura through initiatives like pre-recruitment Training, career counseling sessions, education provisions in remote villages and the Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyan (Drug free India mission), which includes rigorous operations against the drug menace in the state.
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