‘Education, not police, can help Telangana win in the war against drugs’

Like in a tug-of-war sport, in which each participant is decisive and contributes to victory, the fight against drug menace in society too requires a similar strategy: “One fails, we all fall; the team wins if everyone performs. The team members include police, students, teachers and principals, parents, National Service Scheme (NSS) coordinators and volunteers, NGOs, doctors, the IT industry, government and private institutions,” said Director, Telangana Anti-Narcotics Bureau (TGANB) Sandeep Shandilya.

He was addressing university lecturers, NSS programme officers and coordinators during a session ‘Drug abuse in youth, intervention strategies for prevention and awareness’, on Wednesday. TGANB has been conducting day-long sessions with all stakeholders of educational institutions in a four-day programme at the Dr. MCR HRD Institute of Telangana that commenced on Tuesday. The inaugural day saw Prahari Club members of 120 private schools from Hyderabad, Rangareddy and Medchal-Malkajgiri districts.

According to Mr. Shandilya, who had been heading the Bureau since January, and continued in the post after extension of service post his retirement in May, “Police alone can’t fight this, we want everyone to join hands.” He wanted anyone with any information related to drug manufacture, supply and distribution to report on the Bureau’s toll-free number 1908.

At his candid best, evoking laughter in a post-lunch session, Mr. Shandilya explained life incidents of drug abuse victims, stages of addiction, modus operandi of drug traffickers, types of natural and synthetic drugs, legal aspects, and the drastic rise in number of drug types and consumers, through an elaborate presentation.

Citing the 2019 report by Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment on magnitude of substance use, he said Telangana was third in using hallucinogens (2.4 lakh people) and fifth in injecting drugs (64,000 people) in the country. Mr. Shandilya believed that education, not the police, could help Telangana win in the combat against drug menace and make Telangana a ‘drug-free State’. He informed that Prahari Clubs in all high schools and Anti-Drug Committees (ADCs) in educational institutions are being formed to wean away children from early steps of abuse. So far, Prahari Clubs are formed in all 20,989 high schools, and about 75% colleges and universities are with ADCs.

Published - November 27, 2024 08:29 pm IST