Dry state Mizoram starts 'rehabilitation' camps for 'addict' policemen

Alcohol consumption by the men in khaki seems to have become a concern in the Christian-majority Mizoram, which is trying to enforce its decision in 2019 for total prohibition.

The state police has identified 338 of its personnel, who were suffering from various ailments due to consumption of alcohol and other substances and have inducted them for "detoxification and rehabilitation" camps. The state police has started the 45-day-long camps for the policemen found addicted to alcohol and other substances.

"The camps are well organised with a systematic daily routine which includes physical exercise, drill, indoor classes including mental, religious and spiritual guidance sessions. The family members have also been closely associated with the entire exercise," Mizoram police said in a statement on Tuesday.

The camps are being organised with a view to improve their physical fitness level and health condition for carrying out their daily duties efficiently and effectively, it said.
Nine such rehabilitation camps have been set up in eight battalion headquarters and one at the Police Training School at Thenzawl.
"We hope that this camping will bear fruitful results and the personnel attending it will be having lasting benefits, so as to overcome their alcohol/substance dependence," said the statement.

Mizoram, with nearly 12 lakh population was a dry state for 18 years, until the Congress government lifted the ban on sale and consumption of alcohol in 2015. The Mizo National Front government, which came to power in 2019 decided to go back to the dry state status and passed the Mizoram Liquor (Prohibition) Bill 2019. Chief Minister Zoramthanga had said that over 6,000 people had died due to alcohol consumption since the prohibition was lifted in 2015.

Mizoram is a Christian majority hill state, where the churches play a key role in maintaining discipline among the citizens and enforcement of laws.

The camps are being organised with the fund received under National Fund for Control of Drug Abuse, Ministry of Finance, and a committee of senior police officers have been supervising the camps.