Jammu, Feb 16: The Jammu and Kashmir government will conduct a drug abuse survey in 10 districts as part of a national exercise and has launched a community rehabilitation programme, “Circle of Care”, to support de-addiction counsellors in every village, Health Minister Sakina Itoo said on Monday.
She said about 600 counsellors from health, education and other departments have been trained under the initiative, while plans are underway to strengthen primary care as the first line of treatment by expanding inpatient addiction treatment facilities (ATFs) and developing long-term rehabilitation centres in one region of J&K.
The minister said J&K has the highest number of functional ATFs in the country, with 21 facilities operational in the public health sector—at least one in each district—providing around 1.5 lakh patient consultations so far.
She said drug de-addiction rules are being finalised and a bill to combat the drug menace will be introduced in the current Assembly session.
On food safety, Itoo said inspections rose by 25% in 2025–26, with 19,115 inspections conducted against a target of 7,080, meeting the highest inspection benchmark under the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India. Authorities seized and destroyed 57 tonnes of unsafe food worth ₹99.40 lakh, launched 1,007 prosecutions and imposed ₹1.72 crore in penalties, she added. (Agencies)
