Sehat Card to cover drug addicts rehab

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Khan Gandapur has decided in principle to include the rehabilitation of drug addicts in the Sehat Insaf Card scheme, and directed the relevant authorities to prepare a case and present it to the provincial cabinet for approval.

Once approved, rehabilitation centers for drug addicts will also be included in the Sehat Card panel, ensuring a more effective and organized rehabilitation process.

This decision was made in the first meeting of the Provincial Task Force on Anti-Narcotics, held on Thursday with CM Gandapur in the chair.

Cabinet members Mian Khaliqueur Rehman, Faisal Khan Tarakai, Syed Qasim Ali Shah, the Chief Secretary, senior officials of Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF), police, and other relevant departments attended the meeting.

The meeting has decided to accelerate actions against drug addiction, directing the police to launch a massive crackdown against drug dealers across the province.

It was also decided that police officers failing to take effective action against drug traffickers will be removed from their positions, adding that a special meeting of the task force will be held in the next 15 days to review progress on anti-narcotics operations and assess the crackdown in all districts.

The participants, on this occasion, raised concerns about poppy cultivation in certain areas of the province and a committee has been formed to persuade poppy farmers to switch to alternative crops, deciding that the government will provide seeds for alternative crops to encourage farmers to abandon poppy cultivation.

The meeting further decided the institutionalizing the whole process of rehabilitation; responsibilities of various departments and institutions.