The government's much-hyped dope test initiative to eradicate drug abuse from the country is struggling to fully materialise thanks to bureaucratic tangles.

In 2018, the public administration ministry decided that government-job aspirants must undergo dope tests. The government also made the test mandatory for getting a professional driving licence.

Later, the Department of Narcotics (DNC) was authorised to conduct the tests, and so, it prepared a project proposal.

However, the government's project-evaluation committee (PEC), after analysing the proposal, suggested not conducting dope tests under any project. Rather, it opined that these tests should be permanently incorporated into activities of the DNC, through recruiting workforce under its organisational structure.

Amid all this indecision, public hospitals are temporarily carrying out dope tests for relevant purposes. But they are struggling to meet the demand.

On December 11, during a project-evaluation meeting, PEC suggested recruiting sufficient workforce under the DNC and bearing expenses from the department's operational budget to conduct tests.

For this reason, the project -- which was supposed to start in January 2023 and continue till December 2025 -- is in limbo, according to the meeting papers.

Kazi Abed Hossain, director (admin) of DNC, told The Daily Star just because the dope-test project has not been approved does not mean testing is suspended. "PEC has suggested meeting expenses from the DNC's operational budget, not any project fund."

"It may take some time to revise the documents, create posts in the DNC, and train those who will be appointed. But we are working and are hopeful of completing the procedures soon," Hossain added.

Amid all this indecision, public hospitals are temporarily carrying out dope tests for relevant purposes. But they are struggling to meet the demand.

DNC officials say it will take at least three to four years to start dope tests using the operational budget, after finishing all the procedures.

But the problems don't end there. The finance ministry on December 13 issued a circular stating that spending money from the operational budget to buy "machinery and tools" will be completely stopped in the 2022-23 fiscal.

"Machinery and tools have to be bought to conduct dope tests. So, we will first talk with the finance ministry about PEC's opinion and then take further steps," Dulal Krishna Saha, chief chemical examinee of DNC, told The Daily Star.

A FOUR-YEAR STRUGGLE

Authorities first took the initiative for dope tests after the public administration ministry sent a letter to the home ministry on September 5, 2018, for conducting a "narcotics check" of people who wish to get into government service.

On September 18 of that year, the home ministry asked its narcotics wing to take steps, according to a ministry circular.

At the time, a letter was also sent to the health ministry centring dope tests.

The DNC was given the authority to conduct the tests, as per the Narcotics Control Act, 2018. The department then prepared a project proposal to conduct tests and sent it to the home ministry in July 2019, according to DNC officials.

After analysing the proposal for a year, the home ministry sent it to the planning commission in July 2020, said officials.

The planning commission first held a meeting on the project in September 2020, and two years later, the PEC decided not to approve dope tests as a project.

According to PEC, one reason the project was declined was that a feasibility study is required for any project that has a budget over Tk 50 crore, but no such study has been conducted for the project, which has a proposed budget of Tk 87.96 crore.

Furthermore, PEC said that if technical workforce is not recruited timely, then the dope-test kits that will be bought may become unusable after a period.

It also said that if tests are conducted under a project, work of the recruited workforce will end right when the project is over, which is not desirable. For this, PEC suggested creating permanent posts under the DNC.

RELATED PROJECT DONE, SITTING IDLE

In January 2019, the DNC took a project -- "Establishment of Testing Laboratories of the Department of Narcotics Control in Four Divisional (Chattogram, Barishal, Sylhet and Rajshahi) Cities" -- with a budget of Tk 36 crore to facilitate dope tests.

The project was successfully implemented in July 2022, said Dulal Krishna.

But since the main project itself is in limbo, the labs are not fulfilling their purpose.

"We may start other activities in these labs soon, which include verifying whether seized drugs are genuine," he said.

OVERWHELMING DEMAND

Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) made dope tests mandatory for getting a new driving licence and renewing a professional driving licence from January 30.

Government hospitals are temporarily conducting the tests, but this arrangement is not adequate due to the huge demand, according to officials of the DNC and BRTA.

BRTA officials said they have received 2.58 lakh applications for issuance or renewal till September this year, but only 1.39 lakh applicants have been able to get tested.

Mahbub E Rabbani, spokesperson of BRTA, told this newspaper that the government hospitals have failed to provide dope-test results timely due to such demand.

"For this reason, we have requested the health ministry to include private hospitals to meet the demand," he said.

Apart from government-job aspirants, private employees, university students, law enforcers, and workers wishing to go abroad were also supposed to undergo testing, according to DNC officials.

DNC's Dulal Krishna Saha said dope tests can play a major role in eradicating drugs if they are carried out on a large scale.