A historic initiative was taken on Sunday to free Haryana from the menace of drug addiction. Chief Minister, Sh. Manohar Lal, on the occasion of International Day against Drug Abuse and Illegal Trafficking on June 26, released a booklet by making public the action plan of the drug-free campaign in a programme organized by the Haryana State Narcotics Control Bureau at the Harsh Vardhan Auditorium, Madhuban Police Academy, Karnal. With this, Haryana has become the first state in the country to launch such an action plan.
The programme was inaugurated by the Chief Minister by lighting the lamp. In his address, the Chief Minister said that along with development like roads and infrastructure, development of the society and the people living in it is also necessary. He said that drug addiction is a broad term in itself and it has many meanings. The intoxication of power, the intoxication of good deeds, the intoxication of wealth and an intoxication of devotion to God. Using drugs is the worst addiction. This disturbs the balance of the person and his development stops. It hollows out the individual as well as the family. The problem of drug addiction is not limited to its use but it extends to national and international boundaries. Stopping it though is a challenge, but with efforts everything becomes possible.
The Chief Minister said that now the government, NGOs and all the people of the society will fight together against drugs. For this, Haryana State Narcotics Control Bureau has prepared a State Action Plan with the cooperation and public participation of all the departments to root out drug and drug trade from the society and to implement a concerted and collective effort. He said that this initiative of the Bureau would prove to be unique for the health promotion and rehabilitation of youth who are indulging in drugs. The plan includes identification and rehabilitation of drug addicts by giving them proper counseling and medical treatment.
He said that 1,100 sports nurseries are being set up in the state to keep the youth away from drugs and to connect them with creative work, especially sports. By promoting sports, Haryana is going to become a sports hub in the country. Along with the economic point of view, Haryana is also moving towards becoming self-supporting in sports. He informed that there is a plan to set up a park/vyayamshala in two acres from village to village, in which 1,000 coaches and yoga teachers will be recruited and this scheme will be implemented in 6,000 villages of the state. Along with sports, education is also being emphasized in the state and youth are motivated to join the library.
The Chief Minister said that in order to make the state drug-free, under the said action plan, Dhakad programme has been started in schools, colleges and universities. He said the meaning of Dhakad is a person with courage. Speaking about the Dhakad programme, he said that a group of five children of a class will be formed, who will identify the sluggish, lonely and stealthy drug addicts and would inform the class teacher i.e. Senior Dhakad. Senior Dhakad after receiving the information will report to the concerned Principal/Head Master who will be called Nodal Dhakad. He said that for the implementation and supervision of this programme, mission teams at the state, district, sub-division, cluster and village/ward levels will work for counseling, treatment and rehabilitation of drug addicts. 6,538 teams at village level, 1,710 teams of ward mission, 532 cluster teams, 72 sub division teams, 22 district level teams and 25,000 chemists teams will work under the action plan. On this occasion, the Chief Minister administered oath to the police officers and employees present in the auditorium not to indulge in drugs themselves and to inspire others to stay away from drugs. In the programme, after the Chief Minister pressed the remote button, a song against drugs composed by singer Subhash Fauji, resident of Hansi, was played.