Medical College awaits aid for deaddiction wing

KOCHI: In spite of the excise department’s promise to aid the setting up of a de-addiction centre for Kalamassery Cooperative Medical College, no money has been sanctioned for it yet.The decision to set up a de-addiction centre in the hospital was taken last year, after a proposal was put forward by the excise department to aid the setting up of such centres in Kerala. Taking the proposal into stride, the cooperative college was the first to ask the aid of the department. “We were interested in the proposal because it provided us an opportunity to help addicts in the society, whose number is increasing on a daily basis. The excise minister promised to aid us. We realised that the procedures were taking time and therefore, started a de-addiction centre on our own,” said  Jaisurya, Regional Medical Officer at the Cooperative Medical College, Kalamassery.According to him, the psychiatric ward on the lower floor of the hospital has been converted into a de-addiction centre. A doctor with the hospital said, “Sometimes we are forced to make the psychiatric patients and the de-addiction patients share the same room,” he said. “We don’t have the facility to give complete care to the patients. Therefore, the relatives of the victims are also forced to stay back. Once the government sanction’s the money for setting up a different block for the de-addiction centre, the problem would be solved,” Jaisurya added.An official of the Kerala State Beverages Corporation (KSBC), which has been handed over the responsibility to provide the financial aid to the hospital as per the orders of the excise department, said, “The government has requested the KSBC to finance `30 lakh to the hospital. We have decided to release the money. However, we still have not received any orders from the government to release the money.” Excise Minister K Babu said, “The money for the project will be immediately released.”