Brown sugar smuggling from Assam; Nagaland voices concern

NEW DELHI, March 25: The social workers and NGOs in Nagaland have pressed the alarms bells following unabated smuggling of brown sugar from Assam into the State. The revelation was made by a prominent social worker Kumini Kathpiri, Project Deputy Director, State AIDS Control Society of Nagaland, who said that the number of drug users in the State has shown an increasing trend following easy availability of made to order drugs. She later told this newspaper that reports of smuggling of brown sugar from Assam to the State first came in about three years ago. Kathipri said it has been found that the brown sugar is smuggled in custom-made small packets to suit the users. Also present on the occasion was Nidenho, a senior member of the Naga Mothers Association and the president of KRIPA. Social workers from the region point out that the biggest source of drugs in Northeast is neighbouring Myanmar and the border town of Moreh in Manipur and Champai in Mizoram were the two main points of influx of drugs. Nabakishore Singh of Centre for Social Development which is working on the Nido-Myanmar border on an OXFAM-funded project, said they have noticed that traffic of commercial sex workers between the Northeastern States and Myanmar has increased manifold. While earlier sex workers from the region used to go the neighbouring country because of high demand there, now sex workers from Myanmar visits Northeast and they operate even in distant places like Dimapur and Guwahati, he said. Meanwhile, the lack of coordination among NGOs working in the field in the Northeast was one factor that was highlighted at the seminar on AIDS in the region, with members from various States expressing their willingness to share their expertise. Members also suggested that NACO should work with the North Eastern Council (NEC) in this area. Speakers also voiced the need for the NEC to frame a broad base policy on AIDS which should aim at networking of the NGOs working in the region. Members also highlighted the need for the MPs belonging to the Northeast to play an active role.