Lok Sabha Question No. 1862 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-03-14
Subject: Amendment to NDPS Act
Ministry: FINANCE
Asked by: Pradyut Bordoloi

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF FINANCE DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1862 TO BE ANSWERED ON MONDAY, 14 TH  MARCH 2022 PHALGUNA 23, 1943 (SAKA)

## Amendment to NDPS Act, 1985

## 1862. SHRI PRADYUT BORDOLOI:

Will the Minister of FINANCE be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  Government  proposes  to  amend  the  Narcotic  Drugs  and  Psychotropic Substances  (NDPS)  Act  to  decriminalise  usage  of  personal  consumption  of  drugs, treating  drug  consumers  as  victims  rather  than  culprits,  as  recommended  by  the Ministry of Social Justice and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether  the  Government  intends  to  amend  the  NDPS  Act  to  distinguish  between addicts, first-time users and recreational drug users and if so, the details thereof;
- (c) the details of expenditures incurred on the National Fund for Control of Drugs Abuse between 2014 and 2021 year-wise;
- (d) whether the National Fund for Control of Drugs Abuse is utilised for any de-addiction programs and if so, details thereof, and if not, reasons therefor; and
- (e) whether  the Government  is  undertaking  any  rehabilitation  and  harm-reduction measures for drug addicts in the North East region particularly and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE (SHRI PANKAJ CHOUDHARY)

- (a) No such proposal is pending currently.
- (b) Does not arise.
- (c) The details of expenditure incurred on the NFCDA between 2014 and 2021 year-wise are as under:
- (d) The details of NFCDA fund utilized for de-addiction programs so far are as under:
- (e) Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MSJE), Government of India has been implementing  the  scheme  of  National  Action  Plan  for  Drug  Demand  Reduction (NAPDDR),  under  which  financial  assistance  is  provided  to  'State  Governments/ Union  Territory  (UT)  Administrations  and  NGOs  for  running  various  projects concerning de-addiction programmes. A total of 98 such projects are being supported by GoI in the North Eastern states.

| Total amount released Financial Year-wise from 01.04.2014 to 31.03.2021 (in Rs.)   | Total amount released Financial Year-wise from 01.04.2014 to 31.03.2021 (in Rs.)   |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 2014-15                                                                            | 1,17,48,000/-                                                                      |
| 2015-16                                                                            | 43,86,950/-                                                                        |
| 2016-17                                                                            | 8,41,00,000/-                                                                      |
| 2017-18                                                                            | 58,74,628/-                                                                        |
| 2018-19                                                                            | 0/-                                                                                |
| 2019-20                                                                            | 0/-                                                                                |
| 2020-21                                                                            | 48,90,000/-                                                                        |
| Total                                                                              | 11,09,99,578/-                                                                     |

| Organization                                                                                               | Amount Released   |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------|
| PGIMER, Chandigarh/for expansion of services of Drug De-addiction & Treatment Center at PGIMER, Chandigarh | 2,22,00,000/-     |
| India Red Cross Society, Kapurthala/for De- addiction Center (Action Plan of Kapurthala District)          | 18,01,375/-       |
| PGIMER (Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, New Delhi/for expansion of the de-addiction services)              | 36,20,000/-       |
| Govt. of Arunachal Pradesh to set-up drug de- addiction Centres                                            | 50,00,000/-       |

Furthermore,  MSJE  has  also  proposed  to  open  290  District  De-Addiction  Centre (DDAC) in various districts of the country, including various districts in the NorthEast Region.

MSJE has  also  launched  Nasha  Mukt  Bharat  Abhiyaan  (NMBA)  in  272  identified vulnerable districts.  Among these, 46 districts have been identified as vulnerable in Nort-East Region under NMBA.

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