J&K to conduct drug abuse survey in 10 districts; ‘Circle of Care’ rolled out across villages

SRINAGAR: The Jammu and Kashmir government will conduct a detailed survey on substance use disorders in 10 districts of the Union Territory as part of a national exercise, Health Minister Sakina Itoo said on Monday.

The minister said the survey aims to study drug abuse patterns in depth and strengthen policy interventions to tackle the growing menace.

She also announced the launch of a community-based rehabilitation initiative titled Circle of Care to support de-addiction counsellors at the village level. “About 600 counsellors from the health, education and other departments have been trained under the initiative,” she said.

Highlighting the government’s focus on treatment infrastructure, Itoo said Jammu and Kashmir currently has the highest number of functional Addiction Treatment Facilities (ATFs) in the country. In the public health sector, 21 ATFs are operational, with at least one facility in each district. These centres have collectively provided around 1.5 lakh patient consultations so far.

The government is further strengthening the programme to make primary healthcare the first line of treatment for addiction-related disorders. Plans are also underway to increase inpatient ATFs and develop long-term rehabilitation facilities in one region of Jammu and Kashmir.

The minister said drug de-addiction rules are being finalised and are expected to be implemented soon. Once in force, the rules are anticipated to significantly enhance efforts to combat drug abuse across the Union Territory. She added that a bill aimed at curbing the drug menace will also be introduced in the ongoing session.

On food safety measures, Itoo said the government intensified enforcement and sampling drives during 2025–26. Inspections rose by 25 per cent, with 19,115 inspections conducted against a target of 7,080, achieving 100 per cent of the highest food inspection target under the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India.

Twelve special enforcement drives were carried out focusing on high-risk food items such as meat, paneer, ghee, sweets and milk products. Under mobile food safety operations, 57 tonnes of unsafe food products worth Rs 99.40 lakh were seized and destroyed.

During the period, authorities launched 1,007 prosecutions, including 63 criminal and 944 civil cases, imposing penalties amounting to Rs 1.72 crore. Additionally, 40 “stop-use” notices were issued.

The minister further said 66 licence and registration camps were organised, benefiting 7,516 stakeholders, while 3,463 awareness and training camps were conducted through mobile food testing vans at the grassroots level.(Agencies)