PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE/Dehradun
The State government is working on a mission mode to fulfill the commitment to making Uttarakhand drugs-free, chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said.He exhorted the youngsters to “say no to drugs” and also inspire their friends to join the mission. The CM was addressing a state-level programme organised to mark 5th anniversary of the Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyan at his camp office here on Tuesday.
He said that drug addiction is not just a bad habit but a major challenge that makes the society hollow from within. “This fatal tendency destroys a person’s consciousness, discretion and decision-making ability and leads his entire future towards destruction. Today, drug abuse is spreading globally like a silent war with our youth as its biggest target,’’ he said.
Dhami said that the youngsters are the basis of India’s energy, innovation, strength and progress and if this energy is entangled in any negative influence, the nation’s pace of development will be hampered. He said that with this in mind Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyan on Independence Day in 2020.
The CM said that a three-tier Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF) was formed in the State in 2022 to combat drug abuse. In the last three years, the force has arrested more than 6,000 suspects and recovered narcotics worth more than Rs 200 crore.
He said that the government is trying to make de-addiction centres effective in all districts of the state to stop the trend of drug addiction, integrate drug addicts into the mainstream of the society and rehabilitate them.
Currently, four Integrated Rehabilitation Centres for Addicts (IRCA) are successfully operating in the State, which are providing better facilities of treatment, counselling and rehabilitation to drug addicts. The CM said Aipan paintings have also been integrated into the anti-drug campaign.
In the programme the CM also administered the oath of the Drug Free India campaign to the youngsters and felicitated the winners of the speech and essay competitions organized in the schools and colleges of the State.
Cabinet minister Ganesh Joshi, MLA Savita Kapoor, chairman of Uttarakhand OBC commission Sanjay Negi, secretary Sridhar Babu Adyanki, additional director general of Police V Murugesan and others attended the programme.
