Patiala, May 18 -- The Punjab government's plan to monitor outpatient opioid assisted treatment (OOAT) clinics through a digital portal has run into a technical snag even before its official launch.

After detecting multiple instances of pilferage of buprenorphine tablets - a drug used in the treatment of addicts - the state government had installed biometric machines and web-cameras for face recognition at all government and private OOATs last month. It was to be operated through a portal for which the OOAT employees were trained.

"But due to a technical glitch in the portal, we are not able to use it," said an employee of an OOAT centre in Patiala.

Over the past few years, drugs worth crores have either gone missing or been illegally ...