SHILLONG:
Members of the Shillong All Faiths Forum (SAFF), on June 15, felt that a close coordination between different stakeholders – from parents, family members to the police, government and religious leaders, can go a long way in curtailing the menace of drugs in the state.
According to one of the members, Naba Bhattacharjee, there is a need to form a group with representation from different spheres like schools, dorbar shnong, religious bodies, NGOs, police and the government to work in close coordination and synergy, to act as watchdogs.
“We had discussed this in the forum earlier and we had given our suggestions, one of which included – the need to divide Shillong into 11 or 12 zones and have all stakeholders come on board to work together. This menace has to be movement in mission mode basis not individual-basis,” he said.
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Another member of the forum, Fr Richard Majaw said that is important for all faith-based organisations to work towards eradicating this menace. “Yes, it is important but when it comes to the technical aspects, we lack the knowhow,” he said, adding that this is where the other stakeholders can step in.
Furthermore, he felt that awareness is very important, of which the faith-based organisations can play an active part in meeting with young people and involve the educational institutions in furthering this goal.
“Just like any other evils in society, this evil too has no faith, no caste, creed or race. We have to work together as a society because drug abuse affects everyone,” Fr Majaw added.