Telangana announces de-addiction centres in all districts

Hyderabad: The State government has announced that one de-addiction centre established each in all 33 districts of Telangana, months after it was subject to harsh criticism from the Telangana High Court.

De-addiction centres take up treatment of persons that are addicted to alcohol or other drugs. Addicts are given free treatment, yoga therapy and counselling services to develop the will to resist relapse into drug abuse.

In February, the government announced the functioning of new drug de-addiction centres in the State. This came a month after harsh criticism from the Telangana High Court on the government’s six-year delay in filing a response over the opening of de-addiction centres.

After Andhra Pradesh’s bifurcation in 2014, the residual state of AP developed 18 de-addiction centres in its 13 districts, while Telangana had created none.

In 2016, social activist Mamidi Venu Madhav filed a Public Interest Litigation in the Court, asking the State to open de-addiction centres in all districts. He had claimed that the State administration did not provide a response to the petition despite numerous adjournments.