PESHAWAR, May 19: The Frontier government will launch a detoxification and rehabilitation campaign for drug addicts in the provincial metropolis from Tuesday.

Speaking at a press conference here on Monday, Provincial Minister for Zakat and Usher Hafiz Hashmat Khan said the government had set up a detoxification centre at the Blind Institute in Peshawar, where heroin addicts would be treated free of cost. Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani will inaugurate the centre.

He said the government had earmarked Rs1.7 million from Zakat fund for the three-month-long programme, which would be launched with the help of police, social work and health departments, along with some NGOs.

Giving details about the drive, he said the Department of Social Welfare had registered 487 drug addicts in the city to be admitted to the centre. The government had also reserved 60 beds in four major teaching hospitals of Peshawar for the purpose.

The MMA government, according to Mr Hashmat, was fully determined to eradicate the menace of drug addiction from society. He said the IGP had been directed to take action against drug carriers in the province.

Replying to a question, he said the provincial government would earmark funds in the next budget to establish detoxification and rehabilitation centres in other parts of the province. The social welfare department would collect data about drug addicts across the province, following which new centres would be set up, he added.

Mr Hashmet told newsmen that a plan was under way to eradicate beggary from society and the department concerned had been directed to chalk out a plan for the eradication of this social menace.

The provincial government, he said, had sufficient funds in the head of Zakat to be spent on the rehabilitation of drug addicts and beggars. He appealed to philanthropists to help the government in its campaign against drug addiction.