Jalandhar, March 23: Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh will launch the Drug Abuse Prevention Officers (DAPO) programme at Khatkar Kalan (Nawanshahr) on Friday on the occasion of Shaheed Bhagat Singh’s martyrdom day. He will administer the oath to over 3.3 lakh volunteers.
The high number is being attributed to the “intense competition” between Deputy Commissioners and SSPs to achieve — or overshoot — the target of enrolling 1 per cent of the total population of their respective districts as volunteers.
Various DCs and SSPs not only enrolled themselves, but also ensured that their staff got registered. Patwaris, tehsildars, Block Development and Panchayat Officers were told to get themselves and their clerical staff enrolled.Khatkar Kalan, the host village, has 30 adults (age criterion is 18 years or above) registered as DAPOs, said sarpanch Sukhwinder Singh.Amit Kumar, Nawanshahr DC said, “I am myself a DAPO.
I enrolled myself while launching the scheme in my district.”The registration data of the DAPOs has been segregated according to police districts and police stations. At Adampur police station, falling in Jalandhar Rural district, 322 of the 1,055 volunteers are government employees. At Shahkot police station, there are 212 government staffers among 915 volunteers.
Doaba-based activist Parvinder Singh Kitna said, “There is no point in doing enrolments en masse. Rather, the government should ensure that the redressal mechanism is improved. We ourselves have attempted to inform the police about drug activities, but the cops don’t act and let off the peddlers.
”Dr Sandeep Bhola, Kapurthala-based consultant psychiatrist and master trainer under the National AIDS Control Organisation, is of a different view. “If such a large number of people at the grassroots level get going, it’s surely the first big step. But it needs to be checked that people trying to settle scores are not involved. Also, training and coordination at all levels is a must.
”According to a record submitted to the CMO and the state police headquarters, Amritsar Rural police district has topped in registering volunteers with a figure of 33,346, followed by Bathinda district (33,134). The districts of SAS Nagar (2,863) and Barnala (2,729) bring up the rear. The state police enrolled 36 DAPO volunteers from Chandigarh and about 150 from other states.
Source Tribune India
