Amritsar police adopt ‘pray, pledge, play’ approach to fight drugs menace

The Amritsar police commissionerate has launched a multi-pronged, holistic drive titled ‘The Hope Initiative’ to stem drug abuse by engaging civil society members and administration

AMRITSAR : The Amritsar police commissionerate has launched a multi-pronged, holistic drive titled ‘The Hope Initiative’ to stem drug abuse by engaging civil society members and administration.

The Amritsar police commissionerate has launched a multi-pronged, holistic drive titled ‘The Hope Initiative’ to stem drug abuse by engaging civil society members and administration.

The initiative aims to address the menace of drug abuse by involving the youth, communities and other stakeholders.

According to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Social Justice and Empowerment report, there are over 66 lakh drug users in Punjab.

The commissionerate police are banking on Amritsar’s core heritage values of ‘piety’ (Golden Temple), ‘sacrifice’ (Jallianwala Bagh) and ‘education’ (Khalsa College) for the success of its ‘The Hope Initiative’.

The initiative has inherited these virtues of the city through three Ps – ‘Pray, Pledge, Play’ – which will be the core of the battle against drugs.

Under this initiative, the commssionerate police will take youngsters to the Golden Temple for praying for eradication of drugs from Punjab; to Jallianwala Bagh to take inspiration from Shaheed Udham Singh. Besides, more than 1,000 teams will take part in cricket matches.

“Through this initiative, we will focus of creating awareness with creative and purpose-driven engagement of the youth, to contain the demand of drugs,” said commissioner of police (CP) Naunihal Singh while addressing a press conference on Saturday. Deputy commissioner of police (DCP) Parminder Singh Bhandal and assistant commissioner of police (ACP) Varinder Singh Khosa were also present.

“Inspired by sacrifice or our national heroes, warriors and their commitment for Independence, the ‘pledge’ component includes the legacy of Shaheed Bhagat Singh, motivating youth for the battle against the drug menace. Undere the ‘play’ component, cricket matches will be organised in the streets and stadiums across the district, the CP said.

“More than 700 meetings with community and the youth have been held by the police commissionerate, Amritsar, to mobilise the masses in this regard,” he added.

“I hope for a new beginning through this initiative for channelising the energy of the youth. Engagement and involvement of community at various levels through this campaign will be unique and unprecedented,” said deputy commissioner (DC) Amit Talwar.

This phase of the initiative will be completed before Diwali, with series of events and activities led by the communities, NGOs and the people of Amritsar. All the key events during this period will be streamed online to ensure widespread participation.