Hospitality bizmen lend a helping hand to de-addiction centre

Neeraj Bagga

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, July 9

Businessmen in the hospitality sector have come forward to issue funds to make available necessary facilities for the addicts undergoing treatment at the Swami Vivekananda De-addiction Center of Guru Nanak Dev Hospital. They have been donating matresses to the centre.

APS Chatha, president, Amritsar Hotel and Restaurant Association, said a delegation of the association, accompanied by Lok Sabha MP Gurjeet Singh Aujla, had visited the centre to meet the youths recently. “We found that the beds and mattresses were needed in large numbers to accommodate the rising number of addicts,” he said.

Hospitality industrialists feel that addicts have been responsible for most of the petty crimes, such as snatchings, in the city. A few days ago, a Bangalore-based woman’s purse, containing Rs 69,000 in cash, was snatched in the city. Similarly, a resident was robbed of Rs 22 lakh by some unidentified persons at gunpoint outside a shopping mall. Carjacking incidents have also risen.

There is a nexus between police officials and drug peddlers that gives rise to the incidents, said another hotelier, Ranbir Singh. “If this trend continues, tourists will turn their back to the city. It will hamper the business of the hotel industry,” he said.

More intake capacity

With a large number of addicts queuing up at the Swami Vivekananda De-addiction Centre for admission, the district administration has decided to increase its capacity from 50 beds to 200.

Deputy Commissioner (DC) KS Sangha said a large number of addicts had been approaching the de-addiction centre since the initiation of the state government’s campaign against drugs. He said the 50-bed centre was not in a position to handle 70 addicts. With the installation of more beds, the capacity was increased to 65. “After observing the installations at the Guru Nanak Dev Hospital complex, it was found that Sri Guru Har Rai Sahib Ji Niwas, inn for relatives of the hospitalised patients, was being used only 10 per cent of its total capacity. The Chief Khalsa Diwan Charitable Society has been running the inn on the land provided by the government. The administration decided to utilise its vacant space for housing more addicts. Funds from the Red Cross are being utilised to increase the infrastructure,” he added.