Emphasis on comprehensive social participation and administrative reforms for “Chitta Free Himachal”
Sanjivani Sanstha President Mahendra Dharmani today addressed a press conference at Press Club Shimla, in which he gave the latest information on the ongoing efforts to free the state from drug abuse (Chitta) and shared the findings of a major workshop held recently.
Mr. Dharmani informed that the organization organized a state-level workshop on “Cracking Down on Chitta” on December 7th. The workshop was inaugurated by His Excellency Governor Shri Shiv Pratap Shukla, who called for collective and coordinated efforts to eradicate drug addiction. Experts such as Dr. Nidhi, Head of the Department of Psychiatry at IGMC, senior police officer Shri Arvind Negi, and senior advocate Shri Piyush Verma shared their views on medical, administrative, and legal aspects.
At today’s press conference, Mr. Dharmani emphasized the next strategy based on these discussions:
Collective effort: He said that success in making Himachal “Chitta free” will be possible only with the cooperation of all sections of the society including the government, administration, social institutions and the enlightened section of the society. To make the state Chitta free, there is a need to improve coordination among various concerned departments at the government level so that work is done in one direction as per the set standards and its positive results are visible to the people of the state on the ground. He said that it was also agreed in the workshop that instead of creating awareness, the government and administration should make the administrative machinery efficient and be accountable to the people, the awareness should be created by the enlightened people of the society, public representatives and social institutions should run it.
Legal Education: Every section of the society, especially parents and social service organizations, needs to be legally educated so that they can have complete knowledge of their rights and duties.
The main objective of the organization is to create awareness in the society, establish communication, counseling of parents, awareness camps in institutions, district-wise programs and to spread the word about the ill effects of drug addiction to the people through self-help groups.
Mr. Dharmani stated that under the guidance of His Excellency the Governor, he will spread this campaign to the people across the country and assured them of his full support in their efforts. He concluded by saying that all stakeholders must make meaningful efforts to eradicate this evil, only then will we be able to prevent Himachal from falling into the grip of drug addiction.
Present in this press conference were General Secretary of Sanjivani Sanstha, Naresh Sharma.
Advisor Mr. Joginder Kanwar, Vice Presidents Ratan Thakur and Surendra Thakur, Treasurer Mr. Dharam Prakash were also present.
