District Magistrate Kargil, Shrikant Balasaheb Suse chaired a meeting of the district-level committee under the Narco Coordination Centre mechanism outlining comprehensive measures to combat substance abuse in the district on December 7.

Superintendent of Police, Kargil, Chief Medical Officer, Chief Agriculture Officer, District Drug Controller, DFO, officials from the Education Department and NCB Jammu attended the meeting.

SP Kargil Anayat Ali Chowdhary presented overall cases related to substance abuse and action being taken in terms of legal actions, inter-districts/UTs coordination, and awareness initiatives by Kargil police.

During the meeting, it was decided to formulate a tentative schedule for joint awareness camps in consisting of education, social welfare police, and health departments.

He emphasised the importance of education in preventing drug abuse. The DC instructed to foster coordinated efforts from all stakeholders in spreading awareness among the community.

The Education Department briefed about the recent initiatives taken by departments.  In terms of awareness clubs, the DC instructed the formation of these clubs in every private school across the district, aligning with the objective of a substance-free environment within educational institutions.

He directed the Drug Officer to conduct thorough market checks regularly in close collaboration with the police to monitor the practice of sale of notified medicines without prescriptions.

It was decided in the meeting that a joint committee consisting of ADC Kargil, CMO Kargil, and PWD Kargil shall ensure that the Drug De-Addiction Centre is functional as soon as possible.