Sangrur: Set up in 2004, de-addiction centre at Cheema doing yeoman’s service
The 30-bed Akal Drug De-addiction Centre, Cheema (Sangrur), has been a boon for the drug addicts of Sangrur and nearby districts for the past two decades.
Initially, the male-only centre was set up at a gurdwara in Cheema in 2004 before being shifted to the existing location in 2007. As many as 5,410 patients have got treatment as indoor patients and 2,330 patients in the OPD at the centre till now. Besides, 39,000 patients visited the centre as follow-up cases during the past two decades.
Most of the patients visiting the centre are addicted to opium, poppy husk, alcohol, white powder, synthetic drugs, and predominantly fall in the 17-30 age group.
A majority of drug addicts coming here for treatment hail from Sangrur, Barnala, Bathinda and Mansa districts.
Normally, patients are kept at the centre for a month. They are charged for food, medicines, dress, consultation, nursing, indoor and outdoor games, etc. After the completion of the treatment, the patient’s family members are counselled along with him.
The centre has staff strength of 25 employees, including a psychiatrist, medical officer, counsellor, staff nurse, divinity teacher, pharmacist, ward boys and security guards.
During a visit to the centre, a unique case of a person addicted to alcohol came to light. Once severely addicted to alcohol and admitted to this centre 31 times during nine years from May 2010 to August 2019, this resident of Bathinda district is now a peer counsellor at the centre. Fully de-addicted for the past five years, he voluntarily guides and inspires addicts occasionally. Besides, he has also become a baptised Sikh.
Director of Akal Drug De-Addiction Centres, Cheema (Sangrur) and Baru Sahib (Himachal Pradesh), Dr (Col) Rajinder Singh, who is a senior psychiatrist and voluntary social worker, said addicts are given holistic treatment in the form of traditional medical treatment, spirituality, yoga, indoor and outdoor games. Most of the addicts start responding to the holistic treatment soon after getting admitted at the centre, he added. He also claimed the centre is the biggest drug de-addiction centre in the rural areas of the state.
