Encased by fortress-like walls, a small iron gate stands in the middle. After a prolonged silence upon knocking, the door opens, admitting us inside before shutting again. Seated ahead like bouncers, hefty young men keep watch over visitors. The center's owner, once an addict himself, now works on de-addiction.
'Can we see the patients' room?'... We are seated in a rehab center at the borders of two states, feigning the admission of an imaginary addict.
After much persuasion, approval is granted. One lock after another clicks open. Patients sit and sleep in a basement-like locked room, an atmosphere that drags depression through in but a minute.
Dark and pungent with astringent smells, this room reflects the conditions of drug rehab centers in Haryana and adjoining Rajasthan.
Why so many locks here?
If the ‘riot’ breaks out, they cause havoc, attack. Even upon leaving, some patients don’t forget enmity. For safety, we must keep them locked. The center in-charge pulls the lock, explaining defensively.
Numerous centers have sprung up across lanes in Haryana, promising to rid addiction. Advertisements plaster pillar to bus stand walls.
Call, and you'll hear the room rate. Unwilling patients will be forcibly brought. Pay up, and the patient remains theirs for six months. Yet, few might know how addicts locked behind those three locks actually get rid of addiction.
Source: aajtak
Can we meet them?
No, we'll send a video. You know, if you meet, the patient will insist on going home.
Will CCTV access be available?
We are taking care of them. Trust us; your patient will leave healthy.
'Sometimes patients are even beaten up!' we express concern.
Look, when an addict gets a craving, they become aggressive. They attack. Hit with whatever they can grab. Sometimes in mediating, things happen. You hear about patients, but no one knows how many attacks center operators withstand. I’ve had five, six stitches on my head myself, says a center owner over the phone.
Haryana, once celebrated for its robust athletes, has slid into the clutches of addiction influenced by the neighboring state.
Alcohol to heroin has invaded almost every district bordering Punjab. Alongside spreads a promise to liberate from it. Gauge the dire need for drug addiction centers in Haryana from this: last year alone, over 33,000 cases were handled in OPDs in just Sirsa district.
When crackdowns hit heroin, people turned to medical drugs, confide many doctors anonymously.
One governmental doctor in Fatehabad speaks off the record - I went to get painkillers for my ailing mother, only to find out the chemist reserves them for 'special customers', not the needy.
Responding to the demand, numerous de-addiction centers began mushrooming there. Cases have occurred where young patients suddenly perished within these centers.
Source: aajtak
Families blame negligence within addiction centers for their children's deaths. Meanwhile, centers have their defenses: sometimes leveraging patient aggression as a shield, other times overpowering the government. They claim the government expects the impossible. Center owners retort the government likens them to terrorists. Inspections occur sporadically. Several 'illegal' centers have closed, while others remain through 'divine help'.
aajtak.in delved into the conditions of the open-shut-half-shut drug de-addiction and rehabilitation centers across Jind, Sirsa, and Fatehabad districts. Including Rajasthan's Hanumangarh. In fact, center owners allegedly found a peculiar workaround for Haryana’s strict guidelines - shifting to the Rajasthan border.
Source: aajtak
Starting at the juncture of Haryana and Rajasthan - Hanumangarh.
After exploring several centers, we reached the Decent Drug Help Center evening. Dusk dimmed the light, yet lights stayed off inside. Upon entrance, a dozen young men puffing hookah on an outdoor cot. Upon our arrival, some movement, and two accompany us.
The room upfront serves as both meeting hall and office. Here, families, center in-charges, and patients likely hold collective meetings. A signal, the light turns on.
Before we ask anything, the center in-charge pops questions: Where are you from, who is the patient, what does he do - amidst such inquiries, a man alias Raju (name changed) says - if he agrees to come on his own, good, else we can bring him ourselves, transport costs extra.
What's the treatment mechanism?
Initially, we provide bed rest, continue medications, and then initiate counseling. Meditate if sleep troubles him; we’ll prescribe accordingly. Yoga-meditation included.
What's the charge for this?
Not much. 12,000 per month includes stay and meals. If the patient desires outside food or wants milk-curd, that’s an extra charge. Here, we offer bread, green veggies, lentils, porridge. Something sweet is made every Tuesday. Rooms have coolers, and new patients are kept in AC for a few days though rooms are all alike.
Source: aajtak
Can we visit the patient?
No, visitation is allowed 45 days later. Before that, we’ll send a real-time video, recorded fresh, not pre-recorded. Insightful like Mahaveer, they read our thoughts, like someone had previously raised suspicion.
What about staff?
Four-five people, doctors come on call. Mostly, I stay overnight. No worries, I was once an addict too. I got clean at a center like this. Now, this is my work.
Do you apply any strictness?
If cooperative, we don’t bother them. Noncompliance invites some action. Mentally disturb them a bit, isolate, halt dialogue, enforce punishment.
Request to peek into patients’ rooms meets denial - Privacy.
We just want a glimpse...
The door to the rooms opens while switching off the lights, we’re led inside. Inside, another door, another shutter. Beyond the shutter in a hall-like cell, patients sit or lie. The floor, intended for storage, peels off in places. Under the asbestos ceiling, fans with long rods whirl menacingly.
A momentary glance reveals bare iron bunks - mattresses and pillows absent. In Rajasthan’s searing heat, one can only speculate how scorching these beds turn. A windowless hall releases sharp cigarette or burning odors alongside stale smells of washrooms and gloom.
In under a minute, the shutter closes again.
Source: aajtak
Outside, back on the cot sit the young men puffing hookah. The piercing gaze hinders immediate photography of the center. Later, a photo is taken discreetly from a moving vehicle.
A kilometer away lies another de-addiction and rehabilitation center...
This center, along the main road, stands isolated. After prolonged knocking, some activity stirs, leading to the opening of an iron gate. Inside, silence akin to a deserted place. An attendant signals us to a room and leaves wordlessly.
The room adorned with gym training photos and certificates, yet no mention of the center or addiction. Minutes later, a man resembling a wrestler appears. The gym trainer runs this center.
Initial questions flow from his end. After reassurance, our questions unfold.
We’ve seen many centers nearby, but none sufficed. How's this one? Be open.
Admittedly, most centers are poorly run. Center operators indulge in addiction by dusk, careless if patients suffer withdrawals or brawl. It’s become a business when it should be societal reform, a chance to reclaim a brother.
Source: aajtak
Talking of reform, hefty sums are charged here for societal gains.
Why?
Facilities are crucial, sir. Even politician's kids come here. They prioritize facilities over treatment. Denying them could escalate matters.
A request to tour patient halls faces refusal.
'The main gate leads to another gate, then another. This much access we can’t grant. CCTV is available.'
The screen reveals hazy images. People lay, either asleep or pretending sleep. No motion, and it is only half-past seven in the evening.
The Punjab-origin center owner in Rajasthan admits Haryana’s addiction scene is spiraling out of control.
One case surprised me, the boy knowingly used his partner's HIV-infected syringe. How much money or time does changing a needle take! Yet patience failed him. That's the situation there.
Source: aajtak
Due to relaxed regulations, such de-addiction centers thrive in Rajasthan, confirmed by doctors over the phone.
Dr. Pankaj Sharma, a psychiatrist from Sirsa General Hospital, remarks — bordering Rajasthan-Haryana areas are indeed worse. Punjabis have ventured into business there.
This story traces back several decades. The first governmental guidelines emerged in the 80s to curb addiction. Then in 2010, a revised system appeared. Recent updates impose stricter rules. Heavy staffing is needed, doctors must always be present. Many centers shut after raids.
Operators sought new terrains, landing at the Rajasthan-Punjab-Haryana border. Rapidly, rehab and de-addiction centers sprawled in Ganganagar and Hanumangarh. Rajasthan allows tremendous leniency regarding regulations…
Yet Haryana centers aren’t too well either! We interject.
There may be staffing shortages, but inhumanity is absent. Everything runs smoothly.
At least the Sirsa hospital differs. Staff shortages weigh heavily, though. Yet, the situation across Rajasthan is worse per your account.
If aware of these challenges, why not report?
This lies beyond our judiciary, madam, don’t confuse between two states. Comes the irritable reply.
Our last stop was Fatehabad, traversing private centers. A district hospital houses special wards for men, women, and children dealing with addiction.
Why?
Created per necessity.
Meaning the scenario worsened here too!
No. Not exactly, but rare cases arise.
In informal conversations, psychiatrist Dr. Girish Kumar mentions numerous realities.
Source: aajtak
Trends have shifted recently. Heroin used to be the addiction. But heroin is costly, inaccessible daily. Moreover, strict police chiefs currently serve. Brothers have found replacements. They indulge in medical drugs. It evades NDPS law.
What’s medical drug addiction?
Several drugs given in pain or depression are bought and turned into powder. To heighten quickly, addicts make serums injected into veins, sometimes fatally.
Prescription-required drugs, how do people acquire them?
An evasive answer returns: 'We're unsure. You media could find out, we learn from you. Perhaps a drugstore nexus. Genuine patients can’t access necessary meds, yet they possess everything.'
Juggling three wards, these doctors claim ignorance about external happenings. 'I arrive at eight in the morning, leave at three. No mingling. How should I know outside scenarios.'
Showing hospital wards, they declined. After some persuasion, we proceed but under strict rules. Phones tucked into purses, accompanied inside with two assistants plus the doctor himself.
Source: aajtak
No photography. No conversation. Minimal stay advised. This center mirrors private ones, save the access required only two doors.
Patients and attendees shared beds. Two-three women lingered in the male ward, explained as attendees. Emotional moments thrust us back into support roles.
Scattered stories spread from Haryana to Rajasthan’s border. No female accommodations exist across centers.
Suggesting they evade drugs!
No sir, they partake too. But who ships daughters to centers, tarnishing family honor! They clandestinely medicate or remain locked home. Rest is left to fate…
Candidly, fear governs us.
'When alcohol faced crackdown, boys switched to opium. Didn’t seem worse. Then heroin arrived, daunting again. Enter medical drugs, heightening concern. Kids born before me succumb to AIDS, hepatitis, overdose. Those left ponder suicide. Not families, the state succumbs to drugs…'
Comments Balram Jakhar, an elderly man found near Sirsa bus station, initiating a long discussion.
Interview Coordination - Vijender Kumar, Jind
(In the next installment, read stories of those whose kids perished within rehab centers. Plus, a community depiction where drug suppliers' numbers made it a police fortress.)
