Mahabubnagar: 'Nasha Mukt Bharat' awareness rally on October 15

Mahabubnagar: As part of National Action Plan 'Nasha Mukt Bharat' to eradicate drug addiction in the society, the district administration is fast gearing up for conducting a huge awareness rally in all mandals on October 15.

In this regard, District Collector S Venkat Rao conducted a meeting with more than 1,000 officials at all mandal level through webinar from his office here on Thursday and directed them to conduct awareness rally to campaign against drug addiction.

The Collector explained that as part of National Action Plan programme initiated by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, a district level committee was formed. 15 nodal officers were appointed for various activities related to the campaign against drug addiction and formulated three district-level 'ask force' teams consisting of revenue, police, excise and welfare departments. Instructions were issued to youth associations and self-help groups (SHGs) on Nasha Mukth Bharat campaign. All mandal level officials were directed to conduct awareness rallies at mandal headquarters in November, he added. The Collector said drug addiction is a serious problem in the country, which effects not only the individuals but also the entire society if the menace is not cured in the initial stages. He said the Nasha Mukt Bharat campaign is being implemented in 272 districts across the country, among these, Mahabubnagar, Adilabad, Khammam and Hyderabad were listed under most drug usage districts category from Telangana State.

The Collector said the main objective of this programme is to create awareness on adverse effects of drug addiction, rehabilitation of victims and to reach out to the community and focus on counseling and treatment facilities at hospital level.

In continuation to the awareness campaign the district administration is also planning to conduct workshops at Palamuru University and Government Medical College in November besides conducting seminars in all degree, junior colleges. The police officials have also been instructed to identify the hotspots and directed to initiate

rehabilitation, counseling and treatment measures for all the drug addicts in the district.