Mukta Puntambekar, who runs the Muktangan de-addiction centre Today, Shrikhande is a proud man. Not only did he complete his schooling, but is also a graduate with a degree in psychology. For the past 17 years he has been an active member of the Muktangan Rehabilitation Centre and it was here that he got a new lease of life. He joined there as an addict but with Muktangan’s help, he has managed to get over his addiction and today is counselling others like him to give up the habit.
Datta’s is not a one-off case. There are hundreds like him who are living a normal addiction-free life today and all of them owe it to Muktangan. “Today Datta is married, has two children and lives in his own house,” says Mukta Puntambekar, deputy director of Muktangan Mitra and project director of Muktangan De-addiction Centre.
The centre was started in a small room of the mental hospital in Yerawada with just 15 patients. “It was the dream of my mother Anita Awachat, to create an addiction-free society. Though it’s not a very encouraging picture, our centre is growing and today, we have around 140 patients,” says Mukta.
The idea of starting a de-addiction centre came to Anita Awachat’s mind way back in the 80s when a family friend approached her with her son who had become a drug addict. “It was when one among us became a victim my mother realised that addiction had become a serious social problem. At that time, she used to work for the mentally-challenged and there was no separate facility for patients suffering from addiction. She realised that these people should not be treated along with mental patients as their problem was completely different,” says Mukta.
Muktangan came into existence on August 29, 1986. Mukta became a part of the centre in 1993. Talking about problems they face, Mukta says, “We have a staff of 60 people and 80 per cent of them are recovering patients. They have to take care of 140 addicts which can become difficult. At times, they become violent and it is difficult to handle them. However, since most of the staff comprises recovering patients, they are able to handle the situation better.”
The untimely death of Anita Awachat created a crisis situation. “My mother treated all the patients like her children. So when she succumbed to cancer in 1997, we feared that many of the patients might relapse. That was the biggest problem we have faced till date. Even though all the patients were deeply grieved, they now wanted to get over their addiction for the sake of my mother,” remembers Mukta.
Today, the centre boasts of having de-addicted 17,000 people in the course of 23 years. They have recently opened a special ward for women, Nishigandh. “Nishigandh came into being because of requests from patients because the women found it uncomfortable to share the same ward with men. Apart from that we also run a program—Ankur—specially for the children of addicts. Counselling is important for kids too as it has been seen that many of them become aloof, lack in confidence and finally their academic performance gets affected. Ankur is an attempt to pull them out of that stage and help them become confident individuals,” says Mukta.
What keeps Mukta going is the smiles of the faces of patients and their families once they come to meet them after getting de-addicted. “Giving up addiction is like a rebirth for all of them. So, we celebrate ‘sobriety birthdays’ every month where people come with their families and get medals for their achievement, that of having become sober forever. This motivates me as well and we work with renewed zeal to achieve my mother’s goal, that of aiming towards a complete addictionfree society,” smiles Mukta.
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Source: Times of India
