Punjab governor Gulab Chand Kataria on Tuesday announced that he will undertake a four-day padyatra (foot march) starting from February 9 in Tarn Taran, Ferozepur and Fazilka border districts against the drug menace in the state.
Announcing the detailed schedule of the foot march, the governor said the aim was to transform the fight against drugs into a people’s movement to make Punjab nasha-mukt (drug-free).
The foot march will begin from Shri Guru Arjun Dev School in Tarn Taran on February 9 and culminate at DAV College in Abohar on February 12.
“I have written to chief minister Bhagwant Mann, MLAs, ex-MLAs and other leaders of all political parties as well as social organisations, universities and other educational institutions, inviting them to participate in the march,” he told reporters at a press conference at Guru Nanak Auditorium in Lok Bhawan here.
Lauds govt’s anti-drug drive
Kataria said this was not the governor’s programme but a people’s movement, which would be critical to the success of the mission to wean youth away from drugs and rehabilitate them by providing employment.
He said that a number of organisations had been working against the drug menace and there had been, fortunately, some improvement in the situation. “The state government has also taken swift measures through the official machinery to try and tackle the drug situation, making 23,000 arrests, recovering drugs and money in large quantities, and using bulldozers to demolish the properties of drug smugglers,” he added, calling it a step in the right direction.
{{/usCountry}}He said that a number of organisations had been working against the drug menace and there had been, fortunately, some improvement in the situation. “The state government has also taken swift measures through the official machinery to try and tackle the drug situation, making 23,000 arrests, recovering drugs and money in large quantities, and using bulldozers to demolish the properties of drug smugglers,” he added, calling it a step in the right direction.
{{/usCountry}}The governor said the drug problem was not Punjab’s alone, but afflicted the entire nation. There was a need for everyone to join hands and make sustained efforts to help people, particularly the youth, quit drugs and rebuild their lives by providing them employment, he said, while highlighting the good work done by a non-governmental organisation.
Asked about finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema’s allegations that the central government had not earmarked any funds for employment generation in the state, Kataria said there was no correlation between the amount of fund allocation and the fight against drugs, which would continue regardless.
Kataria, who took over as the governor in August 2024, has been proactively organising or taking part in events aimed at creating awareness against drugs in Punjab and Chandigarh. In December 2024, he joined a walk organised in the Doaba region to unite the state against drugs. Later, he led a six-day foot march in Gurdaspur and Amritsar districts in April 2025, followed by a ‘Walk for a drug-free Chandigarh,’ in which then Haryana governor Bandaru Dattatreya, Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann, and his Haryana counterpart Nayab Singh Saini joined him.