Centre tells Punjab to remove report from site
Friday, 22/01/2016
http://paper.hindustantimes.com/epaper/viewer.aspx
NEW DELHI: The Centre has objected to the Punjab government releasing a survey on opioid-dependent population in the state and told it to immediately remove it from its website (http://www.pbhealth.gov.in/ pods.pdf) as the report has not yet been officially accepted.
As per senior government officials, the survey was conducted by the Union ministry of social justice and empowerment and the report was sent to the Punjab government for its comments.
But instead of giving its comments and suggestions, the state government uploaded it on its website, officials said.
As per the report, there are about 2.3 lakh opioid-dependent people in Punjab, of whom 76% are in the age group of 18 to 35 years. “Before we accept the report, we wanted to have the Punjab government’s comments on it. Accordingly, it was forwarded to Jaspal Singh, principal secretary, on November 26, 2015. The comments are still awaited. It has further been pointed out to us that the report has been placed on the website of the department of health, Punjab,” said the letter sent to the chief secretary, Punjab.
The Punjab Opioid Dependence Survey (PODS) was jointly conducted by the Society for Promotion of Youth and Masses and the National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).
The survey covered 3,620 opioid-dependent people across 10 districts: Bathinda, Ferozepur, Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Moga, Patiala, Sangrur and Tarn Taran.
State government officials were not available for comments on the matter.
