Ongole: De-addiction centres part of prohibition process, says Balineni Srinivasa Reddy

Ongole: The government is committed to bring in total prohibition as it wants the lives of poor and oppressed classes improved, said energy, environment, forests, science and technology minister Balineni Srinivasa Reddy.

He inaugurated a de-addiction centre in the Government General Hospital here on Wednesday. The minister said setting up of the de-addiction centres was part of the process aimed at total prohibition and support the people suffering from withdrawal syndrome.

He said Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy was reducing the liquor shops in the state to keep his poll promise. "The government will ban alcohol immediately after entering the fourth year of tenure. That is why the Chief Minister ordered to establish de-addiction centres in all districts," he said.

Srinivasa Reddy appreciated the hard work of doctors and medical staff in the district in containing Covid-19. He said that following instructions from the district collector, the medical staff worked well to reduce the positive cases to zero. Only one or two cases were being registered from people coming from other states, he added.

Collector Dr Pola Bhaskara said that the government had released Rs 37.27 lakh to provide better treatment to the people suffering from psychological problems. He said that the de-addiction centre was started with 15 beds in the GGH and the paramedical staff for the centre would be recruited very soon. Hospital superintending Dr D Sriramulu, deputy superintendent Dr Muralikrishna Reddy, RIMS principal Dr Rajamannar, RMO Venugopal Reddy and other staff participated in the programme.