Uttar Pradesh: CM Yogi Adityanath Govt Launches Campus-Focused Anti-Drug Strategy For Universities
· Free Press Journal
Lucknow, September 09: Under the leadership of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, the state government will make higher educational institutions the main centers of its campaign to protect youth from the harmful effects of drugs and make a drug-free life part of their values. To give Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call for a drug-free India the form of a mass movement and realize the resolve of ‘Viksit Bharat-Viksit Uttar Pradesh’, the drug de-addiction campaign will be conducted more effectively in universities and colleges.
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Under this, a comprehensive action plan has been prepared, ranging from administering a drug de-addiction pledge to students in every classroom to weekly awareness lectures, appointing nodal officers, monitoring hostels, and organizing creative activities.
Higher Education Minister Yogendra Upadhyay, while reviewing the drug de-addiction campaign at the Assembly office in Lucknow on Tuesday, said the Yogi government’s objective is to prepare a young generation through higher educational institutions, where drug de-addiction develops not merely as a campaign but as a value.
The meeting was attended virtually by the Principal Secretary, Special Secretary, Director of Higher Education and other departmental officers, as well as Vice-Chancellors, Registrars and other officials of state and private universities.
To connect the Yogi government’s campaign with students' daily lives, the Higher Education Minister directed that a brief drug de-addiction pledge be administered before classes begin. Through a pledge lasting half a minute to one minute every day, efforts will be made to develop negative thinking about drug use and positive thinking about a healthy life in students' minds.
Along with this, teachers will deliver a brief lecture at least once every week on the harmful effects of drugs and the positive impact of a drug-free life. One day of the week may be designated for this purpose. The government’s effort is to ensure that the message of drug de-addiction does not remain limited to a particular program or day, but becomes part of students' regular academic life.
To implement the campaign effectively on the ground, universities will appoint nodal officers. Nodal officers will also be designated at the college and faculty levels. Officers of the Higher Education Department will be assigned responsibility for different areas,, and the department will regularly monitor the campaign.
Directions have also been issued to provide the department with reports of inspections and investigations previously conducted in universities and colleges. In particular, information on the efforts made so far to prevent drug use in hostels with a large number of students will be compiled.
Monitoring of hostels will be an important part of the Yogi government’s strategy to protect youth from drugs. Along with necessary checks at the gate level of materials brought into hostels from outside, wardens and concerned officers have been directed to conduct surprise inspections from time to time.
The Higher Education Minister made it clear that it is necessary to prevent any possibility of the use of intoxicating substances in hostels at the initial stage itself. However, the approach towards students will not be merely punitive. Emphasis will be placed on explaining the harmful effects to them, creating awareness and motivating them to stay away from drugs.
Instead of limiting the drug de-addiction campaign to administrative monitoring, the Yogi government will present it as a public awareness campaign with student participation. Essay, story, painting, poster and other creative competitions will be organised on the harmful effects of drugs and the benefits of a drug-free life. Lectures by eminent persons and experts will be organized.
Short drug de-addiction padayatras will also be taken out on university and college campuses. Padayatras of limited duration may also be organized at the faculty and department levels. The message of drug de-addiction will also be conveyed through hoardings, posters and wall writings inside campuses and, where required, outside them.
Higher Education Minister Yogendra Upadhyay said that the message of drug de-addiction will produce lasting results only when it becomes part of students’ daily lives and behavior. Through continuous pledges, lectures, dialogue and creative activities, it can be transformed into a value.
He said that the education sector has a major responsibility in protecting the coming generation from drugs. The Yogi government is working to prepare the state's youth to be healthy, responsible, and ready for nation-building through value-based education. Drug-free, value-oriented youth will form a strong foundation for realizing the resolve of ‘Viksit Bharat-Viksit Uttar Pradesh’.