Assistance to Voluntary Organizations for Prevention of Alcoholism and Substance (Drugs) Abuse and for Social Defence Services

          'Scheme of Assistance for the Prevention of Alcoholism & Substance (Drugs) Abuse and for Social Defence Services’ is the flagship scheme of the Ministry in the field of drug demand reduction. The Scheme has two parts viz.

• 'Assistance for the Prevention of Alcoholism & Substance (Drugs) Abuse' (Part I). The cost norms of the Scheme have been revised w.e.f. 1.1.2015.
• 'Financial Assistance in the Field of Social Defence' (Part II). 

1.Assistance to Voluntary Organizations for Prevention of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse

           The Scheme of Assistance for the Prevention of Alcoholism and Substance (Drugs) Abuse is being implemented for identification, counseling, treatment and rehabilitation of addicts through voluntary and other eligible organizations. Under this scheme, financial assistance up to 90% of the approved expenditure is given to the voluntary organizations and other eligible agencies for setting up/running Integrated Rehabilitation Centre for Addicts (IRCAs), Regional Resource and Training Centres (RRTCs), for holding Awareness-cum-de-addiction camps (ACDC) and Workplace Prevention Programmes etc. In the case of North-Eastern States, Sikkim and Jammu & Kashmir, the quantum of assistance is 95% of the total admissible expenditure. The balance has to be borne by the implementing agency.

2.Financial Assistance in the Field of Social Defence

          The Scheme of ‘General Grant-in-Aid Programme for Financial Assistance in the Field of Social Defence’ aims to:

a. Meet urgent needs falling within the mandate of the Ministry which cannot be met under the its regular schemes and

b. Support such initiatives of an innovative/pilot nature in the area of welfare and empowerment of the Ministry’s target groups, as cannot be supported under its regular schemes. Financial assistance is given up to 90% of the approved expenditure to the voluntary and other eligible organizations. In case of an organization working in a relatively new area where both voluntary and Government effort is very limited but the need for the service is very great, the Government may bear up to 100% of the cost.

Drug and Alcohol abuse has become a major concern across the globe including India. The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, is the nodal Ministry for drug demand reduction. To address the problem of Drug Abuse, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment is implementing National Action Plan for Drug Demand Reduction (NAPDDR), an umbrella scheme, under which the Government is taking a sustained and coordinated action for arresting the problem of substance abuse among these people across the country. These includes de-addiction treatment facilities like; Integrated Rehabilitation Centres for Addicts (IRCAs), Community based Peer led Intervention (CPLI), Outreach and Drop In Centres (ODICs), Addiction Treatment Facilities (ATFs), District De-Addiction Centres (DDACs) through voluntary organizations or Govternment body. It also includes awareness initiative like – Implementation of Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan, Toll-free Helpline for de-addiction i.e. 14446 etc.

Extent, Pattern and Trend of Drug Abuse

Ministry of Social Justice and empowerment has conducted the first National Survey on Extent and Pattern of Substance Use in India through National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre (NDDTC) of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi during 2018. The report of the survey was released in February, 2019. As per the report, Alcohol is the most common psychoactive substance used by Indians followed by Cannabis and Opioids. About 16 Crore persons consume alcohol in the country, 3.1 Crore individuals use cannabis products and 2.26 Crore use opioids. More than 5.7 Crore individuals are affected by harmful or dependent alcohol use and need help for their alcohol use problems, about 25 lakh suffer from cannabis dependence and approximately 77 lakh individuals are estimated to need help for their opioid use problems. A sizeable number of individuals use sedatives and inhalants.

Approach and Strategy of the Ministry

The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment recognizes drug abuse as a psycho-socio-medical problem, which can be best handled by adoption of a family/community-based approach by active involvement of NGOs/CBOs. The strategy for demand reduction is three pronged with the following:

1. Awareness building and educating people about ill effects of drug abuse.
2. Community and Government based intervention for motivational counselling, identification, treatment and rehabilitation of drug addicts, and
3. Training of volunteers/service providers and other stakeholders with a view to build up a committed and skilled cadre.

Scheme for Prevention of Alcoholism and Substance (Drugs) Abuse

For the purpose of drug demand reduction, the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment has been implementing the Scheme of Prevention of Alcoholism and Substance (Drug) Abuse since 1985-86. The Scheme for Prevention of Alcoholism and Substance (Drugs) Abuse was merged with National Action Plan for Drug Demand Reduction w.e.f. 01.04.2020.

National Action Plan for Drug Demand Reducation

In order to prevent the Substance use and dependence in the Country, the Ministry of Social justice and Empowerment has formulated and enacted National Action Plan for Drug Demand Reduction (NAPDDR) w.e.f. 01.04.2018. It is a centrally sponsored scheme under which financial assistance is provided to:

1. 'State Governments / Union Territory (UT) Administrations for Preventive Education and Awareness Generation, Capacity Building, Programmes for Drug Demand Reduction by States/UTs etc.
2. 'NGOs/VOs for running and maintenance of Integrated Rehabilitation Centres for Addicts (lRCAs), Community based peer Led lntervention (CPLI) for early Drug Use Prevention among Adolescents, Outreach and Drop In Centres (ODIC) and District De-Addiction Centres (DDACs)'; and
3. Government Hospitals for Addiction Treatment Facilities (ATFs)

The major objectives of NAPDDR scheme are to:

1. Focus on preventive education, awareness generation, identification, counseling, treatment and rehabilitation of individuals with substance dependence, training and capacity building of the service providers through collaborative efforts of the Central and State Governments and Non-Governmental Organizations
2. Create awareness and educate people about the ill-effects of substance dependence on the individual, family, workplace and the society at large
3. Reduce stigmatization of and discrimination against groups and individuals dependent on substances in order to integrate them back into the society
4. Develop human resource and build capacity to:
   1. Provide for a whole range of community based services for identification, motivation, counseling, de-addiction treatment, after care and rehabilitation for Whole Person Recovery (WPR) of dependents.
   2. Formulate and implement comprehensive guidelines, schemes, and programmes using a multi-agency approach for drug demand reduction.
   3. Undertake drug demand reduction efforts to address all forms of illicit use of any substances.
   4. Alleviate the consequences of substance dependence amongst individuals, family and society at large.
   5. Facilitate research, training, documentation, innovation and collection of relevant information to strengthen the above mentioned objectives.

Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan (NMBA) (a component of NAPDDR scheme) was launched on the 15 th August 2020 by Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment in 272 identified most vulnerable districts and now it has been extended to all districts across the country since August 2023. Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan intends to reach out to the masses and spread awareness about substance use with focus on higher educational Institutions, university campuses & schools, reaching out & identifying dependent population, focus on counselling & treatment facilities in hospitals & rehabilitation centres and Capacity building programmes for service providers. More details in this regard is available on the NMBA website i.e. https://nmba.dosje.gov.in

The Ministry has setup a National Tollfree Drug-de-Addiction Helpline No:- 14446 to help the victims of drug abuse, their Family & Society at large. More details in this regard is available on the dedicated dashboard for Toll-free number on the NMBA website i.e. https://nmba.dosje.gov.in

To apply online under the Scheme of Assistance for Prevention of Alcoholism and Substance (Drugs) Abuse, please click on the link below

Online NGO Portal 

List of IRCAs receiving Grant-in-aid from the Ministry