GUWAHATI, July 30 � Getting high through substance abuse is the happening thing amongst majority of the boys who live in the Guwahati Railway Station and depend on the station for their livelihood. These boys, who are either runaways or abandoned, abuse substances like Dendrite, Erasex, etc., and they are also addicted to bidi, cigarette and alcohol.
In view of the growing number of boys getting addicted to substances like Dendrite, the Guwahati Street Children Project (GSCP), World Vision has launched a inter-personal counselling amongst a targeted group.
An official of the GSCP informed that those boys who are really serious to quit the habit would be put into different rehabilitation centres in the city.
�We have started discussing with the boys and till now only a few have expressed their willingness to quit the habit,� said the official adding that it was very difficult to convince these boys who are hardened by the tragedies in life.
As per a study conducted by the GSCP, peer pressure is one major factor in influencing the boys. The pathetic thing is that many amongst these boys who are into substance abuse have a limb or fingers missing because they had slept on the railway tracks after getting high.
�Even their friends play pranks. They pull the boys who are high on to the tracks and leave them there,� said the official.
Even after the accidents happening in their lives, the boys are reluctant to quit the habit. They are so heavily addicted that they can forgo food but not their quota of intoxicants. The objective of GSCP to get the boys de-addicted will take a long time, but it has succeeded in motivating a few to get back to normal life. One such boy who quit his habit is Ganesh Das. Now he is 22. Several years back he was addicted to dendrite, alcohol and other substances. Today, he spends a very different and decent life. He gave up all the bad habits and has engaged himself in the garbage cleaning works of Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC). His monthly earning is around Rs 2,200. He has even married and they are today blessed with a baby whom they have named Dinesh.
�We are hopeful that other boys in the railway station would get inspired by Ganesh and we are working to change their attitude,� said the official.
