South Asian Sub-Regional Drug Focal Point Meeting - New Delhi (9-11 September, 2015)
The Sub-Regional Drug Focal Point Meeting of
South Asia organized by Colombo Plan Drug Advisory Programme, Sri Lanka &
Narcotics Control Bureau, India over 3 days (9-11 September, 2015) at Ashok
hotel, New Delhi was a busy affair and witnessed hectic panel discussions and
presentations activities mainly relating to drug supply reduction and drug
demand reduction.
The conference started with a glittering opening
ceremony in which the Hon’ble Home Minister of India Mr. Rajnath Singh was the
chief guest and Hon’ble Minister of State for Home Affairs Mr. H. P. Choudhary
was the guest of honour. Director General, NCB Mr. Ashok Prasad, in his welcome
address, welcomed the dignitaries and participants of member States and gave a
brief on the drug problem being faced in the region. Mr. K. Dorji, Secretary
General Colombo Plan in his address, thanked Govt. of India and Narcotics
Control Bureau for hoisting the International conference and hoped that the
Colombo Plan Sub Regional Conference will be able to meet its objectives in the
field of Drug Supply and Demand Deduction.
Hon’ble Home Minister Mr. Rajnath Singh in his
address called upon the International community to work unitedly to fight the
drug menace and exhorted all to say “No to Drugs and Yes to Life”. He also
administered a pledge to the participants which included about 100 youths from
SPYM to abstain from drugs and commit themselves to national building. The
Hon’ble Home Minister also gave away Certificate of participation to two
students that were recommended by SPYM.
At the end, Director General, NCB Mr. Ashok
Prasad presented Mementos to the Chief guest and Guest of Honour while Mr. R.P.
Singh, DDG(NR) NCB proposed a vote of thanks to all.
The opening ceremony was followed by a short
interactive session of the youth with the Hon’ble Home Minister and Hon’ble
Minister of State for Home Affairs and group photograph of all participant
delegates from member States.
In the opening Plenary Session, DG, NCB Shri
Ashok Prasad was elected as the Chairperson while Mr. K.Gamage, Executive
Director of National Dangerous Drugs Control Board, Srilanka along with Shri V.
Shashank Shekhar, Joint Secretary, MHA, India were elected as Deputy
Chairperson for the 3-days Session.
Director, CPDAP, Mr. Antonius Riva Setiawan
presented a report on the Action Plan and implementation status of 3rd Drug
Focal Point Meeting that was held in Chiang Mai, Thailand in Sept. 2014. Mr.
Tay Bian How, Director, ICCE, Colombo Plan presented an extremely informative
report on training and credentialing of addiction professionals in South Asian
Countries.
Thereafter Heads of delegations from
representative countries namely Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Iran,
Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka presented their country reports. Mr. R.K. Sahoo,
DDG(ER), NCB presented India’s Country Report. The country reports highlighted
the kinds of drug challenges facing each country, their response to the challenges
and steps taken by them in the field of supply and demand reduction. The
opening day session which was to end at 5 P.M., stretched on to upto 7 P.M. due
to the active participation of member delegates.
The forenoon session of the second day was devoted
mainly to expert presentations and panel discussions on drug supply reduction
and drug demand reduction. It was Chaired by Mr. K. Gamage, Sri Lankan
Delegation Head and Moderated by Shri Rajender Pal Singh, DDG(NR), NCB.
The round table discussions were more
inter-active and gave a chance to speak to all delegates in smaller groups on
the need to chart a road map for future drug related strategies by CPDAP.
The round table discussions were all the more
important because recommendations made by each group were to form the basis of
the finalization of the SR-DFPM statement and its presentation on the next day.
In the forenoon on the final day, all the
participant delegates were taken to the Drug Treatment Centre at Ghaziabad
which is run by AIIMS, New Delhi. At the treatment center, the delegates
interacted with its Chief and staff and also spoke to the patients undergoing
treatment there. The participants on their return appreciated the work being
done at AIIMS Drug Treatment Centre.
The afternoon session of the final day was
devoted to the finalization of SR-DFPM statement and its recommendations.
The Conference ended with the Head of Sri Lankan
delegate offering to consider hosting the next SA-DFPM meeting in Sri Lanka. In
his closing remarks, the Secretary General Mr. Kinley Dorji appreciated the
active participation of all member delegates and thanked them for the same. He
further thanked NCB and MHA for making excellent arrangements for the
Conference.
