Jorhat, Sept 15: Hours after the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) called for a government-backed integrated rehabilitation system to tackle Assam’s growing drug menace, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, on Tuesday, announced plans to establish government-run rehabilitation centres in every constituency in the State. Speaking at a press conference in Jorhat, Sarma said the government had discussed setting up the centres and is working to reduce dependence on private rehabilitation facilities.

“We have discussed yesterday that we will start rehabilitation centres under government undertaking in every constituency and will strictly scrutinise private rehab centres,” Sarma said. He said the government has received several complaints against private rehabilitation centres, including allegations that drugs are available inside some of the facilities.

“We’re making plans so that there remains no need for private rehab centres. We have received constant complaints against them involving drugs availability there,” he said.

The Chief Minister’s announcement came hours after AASU held a statewide anti-drug awareness rally. AASU chief Utpal Sharma had said rehabilitation centres in Assam needed to be reviewed, questioning their regulation and monitoring.

He alleged that individuals who had themselves been accused of drug addiction were now running some rehabilitation centres and questioned how such facilities were being operated. The student body also called for a higher conviction rate in drug-related cases and welcomed the government’s decision to establish a dedicated narcotics cell, while seeking greater powers for the cell.

Sarma said the government is also tracking the routes through which narcotics enter Assam, describing the state as having become a “corridor” for drugs. “All the drugs that enter Assam comes from Myanmar, Manipur, Mizoram and Nagal and.

A new flow has started from Arunachal Pradesh to Dibrugarh and Tinsukia. However, source is Myanmar and then goes to other states,” he said.

“This has become a corridor,” the Chief Minister asserted. He added that both the Assam government and the public are fighting the drug menace but acknowledged the scale of the challenge.

“Assam government is fighting so is the public, but the problem is challenging,” Sarma said. Referring to the BRICS anti-drug conference held in Guwahati, Sarma said representatives of BRICS countries had attended the two-day meeting and prepared an anti-drug action plan that came to be known as the Guwahati Declaration.