Kohima: As Nagaland figures among a high ranking number of drug users in the country, Director General of Prisons, Rupin Sharma, on Wednesday suggested the need to have a common intervention and correctional facility, as the capacities are inadequate.
Speaking at the state-level orientation cum sensitization of officials from the Prison & other closed door setting at the Directorate of Prisons in Kohima, Sharma cited instances of how drug users suffer from drug withdrawal syndrome after being arrested for committing petty thefts.
The right intervention at the right time is key, he suggested. He added that the state government agencies and Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) must urge the government to issue a notification for the conduct of medico-legal examinations for Under Trial Prisoners (UTPs)–as the first step for intervention to identify drug users and also conduct HIV screening for necessary interventions.
It is in this regard that he suggested the need to have one facility in the state for intervention and correction. In his words, for the combined facility, the jails can provide custody and security, while the health department can provide medical treatment and facilities, and NGOs can provide counselling and interventions. Such a facility, he said, will treat drug users as patients and not as accused.
Sharma also highlighted that there is a need for more collective intervention to expand, and the reach covering areas of concern rather than limiting intervention to areas of comfort alone.
Meanwhile, Joint director TI, NSACS, Dr Bernice highlighted that the HIV+% in Central Jail Dimapur alone is 4.59% (convict and UTPs), as per the prison surveillance conducted in 2021.
He also informed that district prison nodal officers are nominated by DG Prison.
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