Meghalaya govt to set up 15 more rehab centres next year

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaDecember 2, 2024

The state government will set up 15 more rehabilitation centres for drug addicts by 2025.

Announcing this on Monday, Social Welfare Minister Paul Lyngdoh said, “We will be increasing the number of rehabilitation centres. We are working on the proposals to have at least an additional of 15 more centres by 2025.”

He said that the government has been able to fund rehabilitation centres run by the churches and private institutions.

“We have been able to fund them either partially or fully so its not we have left them to tackle the issue on their own. We are also funding nine centres owned and runned by private institutions but certainly the situation need further improvement and we will certainly increase at least 15 more by 2025,” he added.

Asked on the recent deaths of two youths in Assam based rehab centres, the minister said, “We have already written to our counterpart in Assam. We have sought a report. Letter has also gone from the DC East Khasi Hills seeking a report from the concerned department in Assam. In the next couple of hours, I will be doing a review of this specific instance.”

“In the earlier case where there was reported ill treatment in Mizoram, we had intervened. This time around also we had written our principal secretary had spoken to authorities in Mizoram and I am taking a review in the next couple of hours from now,” he added.

Recently, Rickelson Jyrwa, a resident of Golflink and Meban Syndor from Mawlai Mawtawar, who were undergoing rehabilitation at the Better Living Wellness Foundation, Mangaldai and the Alive Again Foundation, Chandrapur, Hatisila, Guwahati respectively had died under mysterious circumstances.