India Ramps Up Fight Against Drug Abuse on International Day

The Indian government is set to mark the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking on June 26 with a significant national-level event in Delhi, according to officials. The event will see the presence of Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, B L Verma, as the chief guest, along with several senior ministry officials.

In anticipation of this day, the government has been actively organizing a series of awareness activities under its prominent Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyan (NMBA) campaign. This initiative aims to transition into a Jan Andolan or people's movement, targeting mainly the youth in schools, colleges, and universities, to educate them about the detrimental effects of substance misuse.

As per an official ministry statement, more than 15.78 crore people have been sensitized to date, which includes over 5.26 crore youth and 3.31 crore women. Approximately 4.31 lakh educational institutions have taken part in the campaign, engaging over 20,000 trained volunteers to implement ground-level initiatives. To enhance outreach, NMBA has unveiled a mobile application for real-time monitoring of activities at both district and state levels.

(With inputs from agencies.)