Even as the use of illicit drugs zooms in the country, especially among youth, the agency tasked with spreading awareness about the ill effects of drug use has been finding it difficult to spend the funds it has been allocated.
This was highlighted by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Social Justice and Empowerment in its report on the ‘drug abuse among young persons’ in the country.
The cornerstone of India’s efforts to spread awareness about the ill effects of drug use is the National Action Plan for Drug Demand Reduction (NAPPDR). Under this scheme, the government conducts media campaigns, on-the-ground awareness programs, counseling, early detection programs, rehabilitation, and so on.
However, the standing committee, chaired by Lok Sabha MP Rama Devi, observed that, for the last two years, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has been unable to spend the funds allocated for the program.
For example, in 2021-22, the budget allocated Rs 260 crore for the program. This was cut down to 200 cr mid-way through the year. But even after the revision, the actual expenditure fell short of the target and came in at just Rs 90.93 crore.
In the next year (2022-23), the budget allocation was reduced to Rs 200 crore. But again, the ministry was not able to spend the entire amount, and with Rs 102.15 crore of it remaining unspent for the year.
Growing menace
According to various surveys, cannabis, heroin, MDMA, cocaine and synthetic opioids are the most commonly abused drugs in India. Drug use and abuse have increased exponentially over the years, with one of the reasons being the rise in stress levels and loneliness associated with the modern lifestyle. Another huge factor is the increased affordability of certain drugs.
The lack of awareness about the ill effects of drug usage from health problems to criminal tendencies among young people is another huge problem. Therefore, preventive education on substance use is necessary in India.
The program of NAPPDR was introduced under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment for the period 2018-2023 to work on this preventive education and raise awareness among the youth.
Blame it on the pandemic
Responding to the committee’s queries, the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment said the operations of the scheme were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Revised [Budget] estimate is decided based on expenditure incurred during the first half of the financial year,” it told the committee.
In both financial years, it said, the performance of the centers running NAPDDR was affected by the pandemic.
It also blamed poor performance by some of the partner organizations for the fall in activity.
“During the inspection, some of the centers were found non-functional or functioning with deficiencies, thus leading to the cancellation of release of grants in aid to some NGOs in FY 2020-21 and 2021-22 due to which the revised estimates for these years was reduced", said the department.
Meanwhile, the committee noted that the allocation has been increased to Rs 311 crore for the current year.
“The Committee would expect that the budgetary allocation of ₹311.00 crore made for 2023-24 is utilized fully instead of being reduced at RE stage, as the pertinent approvals must have been obtained and the relevant procedure established by now”, quoted the report.
The Committee also instructed the department to take necessary action to ensure an increase in the number of beneficiaries as it has reached a total of 1,00,117 this year as of July 2023.
Shifty NGOs
As per the report data, the number of drug users in states such as Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Chattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra is enormous.
Yet, the amount sanctioned to NGOs and other support bodies functioning in many of these states has gone down in 2022-23 in comparison to the previous years, the committee observed.
Particularly, in the case of Uttar Pradesh, the funds allocated to NGOs have halved from Rs 10 crores in the year 2020-21 to Rs 5 crores in 2022-23.
Based on this, the committee recommends the urgent need to develop a system where genuine NGOs are selected for grant-in-aid and to put an effective on-ground monitoring system to keep these bodies in check.