As drug cases mount alarmingly, Kerala launched a month-long campaign on Thursday to wean youngsters from contraband and make them aware of hidden dangers in destructive substances.
Inaugurating a campaign called “No to drug”, chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan made an emotional appeal to all citizens to participate in the campaign. He said more than a CM he was talking to youngsters as their grandparent and as a brother to their parents.
Former India cricket skipper Sourav Ganguly, who was in the state capital recently for India-South Africa T-20 match, had released the poster of the campaign.
“We cannot waste even a second. We have to win this fight against drugs. If we fail death will win. We will win. It is possible and we will make it happen,” said the CM.
On European tour, he addressed the meeting online and said the new drive will be a multi-prong and multi-tasking event and the state machinery will go all out against the drug mafia. He said all agencies dealing with the scourge like police, enforcement, excise, students, teachers, parents and volunteers will come under a common platform to resist the threat posed by drugs.
The CM said all should develop a culture to treat drug couriers and distributors as anti-social and anti-national elements. He also appealed to religious bodies, resident associations, parent-teacher bodies, local clubs, student and youth outfits and Kudumbhasree (a women self-help group) to make the campaign a big success.
{{/usCountry}}The CM said all should develop a culture to treat drug couriers and distributors as anti-social and anti-national elements. He also appealed to religious bodies, resident associations, parent-teacher bodies, local clubs, student and youth outfits and Kudumbhasree (a women self-help group) to make the campaign a big success.
{{/usCountry}}During the month-long campaign, there will be special programmes in school and colleges and there will be a strict vigil on drug distributors and carriers.
All clubs, student outfits, resident associations and youth groups have been asked to organise debates and take a pledge against drugs. An anti-drug lamp will be hit in all public places and homes on Oct 24. Many NGOs, media houses and cine actors have also pledged support to the campaign. State Excise Minister M B Rajesh has asked youngsters to make it a runaway hit and sensitise users and bring them back to mainstream.
The state has every reason to press the emergency button, statistics show. On an average, at least 77 drug-related cases are registered in a day and drug cases form at least 10.25 per cent of total cases being registered in the state these days. In the last two years, drug-related cases were well below 10,000 but in nine months this year they crossed 22,000.