The Community Network for Empowerment (CoNE) expressed the hope that people of Manipur would extend support and cooperation in helping the drug users community in the state as it celebrated its 11th foundation in Imphal on Thursday.
CoNE president RK Nalinikanta said that since the inception of CoNE, members have been putting their best effort for the welfare of the drug users community despite facing many challenges like fund constraint and manpower shortage.
They not only focus on empowering the drug users’ community but also provide them employment wherever possible. Many drug dependent people who are associated with them had come to the mainstream, he said during the celebration held at its office located at Keishamthong Hodam Leirak.
Highlighting the activities carried out by CoNE, he said that they cover a wide range of services in the field of drug-related issues and providing advocacy to them is one of their key agenda. Under their guidance, many HIV-infected people started ART treatment. They have also linked many Hepatitis C infected persons who are unaware about free treatment at the National Viral Hepatitis Control Programme, he added.
Considering deprivation of legal rights as one of the major issues amongst drug users, they had set up a free legal aid clinic in their office. With the help of this clinic, many cases were resolved and settled, he said. CoNE will continue in serving the drug users’ community of the state in the coming days, he added,
Other presidium members of the function were secretary of CoNE, RK Komoljit and treasurer of CoNE, Mutum Kenedy.
As a part of the function, certificates were also distributed to media persons who had received CoNE Media Fellowship in the year 2020. The fellowship programme began from January 2020 to May 2021.
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