Gehlot chairs meeting on National Survey on Substance Use

Speed Post News Network

New Delhi : Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Thaawarchand Gehlot on January 30, 2018, chaired a review meeting on the National Survey on Extent and Pattern of Substance Use with the Principal Secretaries of thirteen States here. The meeting was attended by Vijay Sampla, Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment.

The State Governments were requested to provide support to the implementation agencies of the National Survey and facilitate the agencies in the selection of multiplier facilities interview locations for the for the Respondent Driven Sampling (RDS) Survey. The progress made in different States for the National Survey was reviewed and the States where consultations and trainings for the Survey are still pending were directed to take appropriate measures to ensure that training/consultations for the survey are completed as early as possible so that the data collection process is completed within stipulated time frame, according to a PIB release.

The last National Survey on Extent and Pattern of Substance Use in India was conducted in  2000-2001.The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment had in August 2016 assigned the task of conducting the National Survey on Extent and Pattern of Substance Use in India to the National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre (NDDTC), AIIMS, New Delhi, and the report is expected by March, 2018. The survey will be carried out in about 25% of the districts in each state and the data collected from these districts will be extrapolated using standard statistical methods to generate estimates for the entire state/UT.

A Household Sample Survey (HSS) will be conducted in 185 districts of the country to determine the proportion of people who use substances and people who are suffering from substance use disorders.