Till date, 15.78 plus crore sensitised on substance abuse
The Department of Social Justice and Empowerment (DoSJE) will on Thursday organise a programme to observe the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.
Every year, June 26 is observed as the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.
The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MoSJE) is the nodal Ministry for drug demand reduction in the country, which coordinates and monitors all aspects of drug abuse prevention, assessment of the extent of the problem, preventive action, treatment and rehabilitation of users, dissemination of information, according to an official statement
The MoSJE has initiated an ambitious Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan (NMBA), which is currently operational in all districts with an aim to create awareness about ill effects of substance abuse among the youth, with special focus on higher education institutes, university campuses and schools.
The aim is to reach out into the community and garner community involvement.
“Substance use disorder which is adversely affecting the social fabric of the country. Dependence to any substance not only affects the individual’s health but also disrupts their families and the whole society. Regular consumption of various psychoactive substances leads to dependence of the individual. Some substance compounds may lead to neuro-psychiatric disorders, cardiovascular diseases, as well as accidents, suicides and violence. Therefore, substance use and dependence needs to be viewed as a psycho-social-medical problem,” say officials
According to the ministry, through various activities undertaken on-ground, more than 15.78 crore people have been sensitised on substance use. This includes more than 5.26 crore youth and 3.31 crore women.
“Participation of 4.31 plus lakh educational institutions has ensured that the message of the Abhiyaan reaches children and youth of the country and a strong force of 20,000 plus Master Volunteers (MVs) have been identified and trained. Awareness is being created through official Social Media accounts of the Abhiyaan and an NMBA Mobile Application has also been developed to gather and collect the data of NMBA activities and represent on the NMBA Dashboard at district, state and national level, on a real-time basis
Besides this NMBA Website provides detailed information and insights to the user/viewer about the Abhiyaan and a National Online Pledge to be Drug Free had 1.67+ Crore students from 99,595 educational institutions pledging to be drug free. MoUs have also been signed with spiritual/social service organizations like The Art of Living, Brahma Kumaris, Sant Nirankari Mission, Ram Chandra Mission (Daaji), ISKCON and All World Gayatri Pariwar to support to NMBA and conduct mass awareness activities and the de-addiction facilities geo-tagged for ease of access by the public.
