Promoting sport among the unemployed youth who have dropped out of
school to avoid making use of drugs and falling into the hands of the
drug cartels: This is the initiative implemented in Punjab from
Navjeevan Charitable Society for Integral Development (Ncsid), the
Social Service of the Diocese of Jalandhar, in collaboration with
Caritas India.Fr. Antony Madassery, director of Ncsid, is convinced that the intervention of the Church contributes to implement positive change among children and young addicts. Speaking to AsiaNews he said: "Sport is a way to integrate these kids and let them resume contact with society and the family, so they can become responsible people and find work."
The project is called "Sport for development of young people" and involves students, teachers, leaders of villages and local communities. The social arm of the diocese has hired eight hockey coaches who are giving lessons to 540 children and teens.
"We know that sports activities can change the lifestyle of drug addicts- says the priest -, and are attracting more and more interest among teens”. This is why the local Church is also creating a network of organizations and associations interested in solving the problem of drugs. "We hope - it is the goal - that young people can be brought back within the social system. To reintegrate them, through love, affection and care."
Punjab is one of the Indian states with the highest rate of opiate use. Over the past 10 years it has always been at the top for the number of drug addicts. The problem is so urgent that the state is the only one in the Union in which a survey was carried out.
According to the Punjab Opioid Dependence Survey, conducted between February and April 2015, approximately 230 thousand inhabitants consume drugs. This means 836 people per 100 thousand, when the average in the whole of India is about 250 people per 100 thousand.
Drug abuse is fueled by a vicious circle: on the one hand, agrarian crisis, unemployment and school drop outs lead to drug use; on the other, addicts find it hard to integrate into society, becoming, in turn, consumers and dealers so they can obtain doses.
These population groups are fertile ground for the drug cartels, which perpetuate their trades. At the same time, the abuse is also the cause of a large number of crimes: 7,524 drug related crimes between 2005 and 2014.
Fr. Madassery, " We must seriously address the issue. For this we need the cooperation and the involvement of multiple actors. We are happy with the fact that already there has been progress among the young people".