This Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment implements a “Central Sector Scheme of Assistance for Prevention of Alcoholism and Substance (Drug) Abuse”. The Scheme has the provision of financial assistance to Non-Governmental Organisations, Panchayati Raj Institutions, Urban Local Bodies etc. for, inter-alia, running and maintenance of Integrated Rehabilitation Centre for Addicts (IRCAs) and to provide composite/ integrated services for the rehabilitation of the addicts. These IRCAs are responsible for Preventive Education and Awareness Generation programmes in their neighborhood, educational institutions, workplace and slums with the purpose of sensitizing the community about the impact of addiction and the need to take professional help for treatment. The total number of beneficiaries under the scheme for the financial year 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19 are 114759, 100737 and 77479. The total number of beneficiaries from the State of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Punjab are as below –

 

Number of beneficiaries
State	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19
Andhra Pradesh	4059	2952	1752
Telangana	3321	1845	1144
Punjab	2214	2214	1865

 

The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has conducted a National Survey on Extent and Pattern of Substance Use in 2018. The National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre (NDDTC), All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi was entrusted with the responsibility to lead the technical and scientific aspects of the National Survey.

 

As per the report, Alcohol is the most common psychoactive substance used by Indians followed by Cannabis and Opioids. About 16 Crore persons in the country consume alcohol, 3.1 crore use cannabis products, 2.26 crore use opioids and approximately 1.18 crore use sedatives. Further that 2.9 crore individuals suffer from alcohol dependence, 25 lakh from cannabis dependence, 28 lakh  from opioid dependence and 11.8 lakh are using sedatives in dependant pattern.

 

The Complete report of the survey indicating the State-wise details is available on the website of this Ministry at

 

http://socialjustice.nic.in/writereaddata/UploadFile/Survey%20Report.pdf

 

This information was given by Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Shri Rattan Lal Kataria in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today.

 

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NB/SK/jk-SJ&E-2/17-07-2019

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