Mohali district in Punjab starts skilling centre for rehabilitating  de-addicted youth

Mere de-addiction of youngsters is not enough as their rehabilitation is also necessary to bring them into the mainstream. That is what the Mohali District Administration in Punjab has done by inaugurating a skill training centre in Sector 66.

This centre which will be run in collaboration with Harket Foundation, a non-Government organisation, will primarily focus on the youth who get out of de-addiction centres.

The project was inaugurated by Aashika Jain, Mohali Deputy Commissioner, Gurpreet Singh Bhullar, Inspector General of Police, Ropar Range, and Dr. Sandeep Garg, Senior Superintendent of Police.

Following the launch, Jain said that once the youngsters are de-addicted they need to become skilled so that they don’t lapse and continue with the treatment given to them to get out of their addictions. Talking to the media the DC said: “Last week, during the meeting of the Narco Coordination Centre, it was felt that there should be a platform to provide self-employment training to addicts along with treatment. Working on that idea, the Hartek Foundation came forward to propose the setting up of the skill training centre.”

The training in skills like electrical fitting and wiring, etc will last from 15 to 20 days depending on the understanding of the skill required. At the newly inaugurated Centre there will be an engineer and an instructor for imparting training from 9.30 a.m. to 11 a.m. from Monday to Friday. Apart from skill training, various sports activities would also be introduced for people of de-addiction centres. Plans were afoot to introduce training in organic farming.

Emphasising that every addict has a right to start his life afresh and be a part of the mainstream society Bhullar said that skill training was an essential part of the treatment and rehabilitation strategy for addicts.

Explaining about the multi-fold approach to tackle addiction, Garg said that first is enforcement, second is public awareness and third is treatment with rehabilitation.