Education Minister Rohit Thakur calls for joint efforts to curb drug menace

Shimla : State Government is making earnest efforts to protect and aware school students from falling prey to drugs and drug peddlers. The Government has started the ‘PRADHAV’ campaign ‘The Hackathon to wipe out the drugs’, spearheaded by the office of Additional Director General of Police and aims to aware students in this direction, besides expecting from them, to give information to police, if they see or feel suspicious of any such activity around their school or elsewhere.”

It has become imperative and needs to be ingrained in the mind of every child in Himachal that we together can fight this evil and can contribute towards building a healthy society,” said Education Minister, Rohit Thakur who presided over the review meeting of the Education department here today.

Sh. Thakur said that ignorance of consequences of the drugs, sheer curiosity, mental, emotional and psychological reasons often draw students into drug addiction. The department must make necessary changes in the education system policies besides functioning jointly with Police, Social Justice and Empowerment, Rural Development and Panchayati Raj departments for eradication of drugs from the State, said the Minister.

He asked the National Council for Education, Research and Training (NCERT) and Himachal Pradesh Board of School Education (HPBOSE) to prepare an age-appropriate curriculum to educate children about the ill effects of drug abuse and integrate the same into the curriculum of schools and colleges.

He also stressed on the need to have a state-wide mental health helpline through which virtual counselling of children could be carried out even in the remotest parts of the state. He said that besides making yoga, sports, and physical activities a mandatory part in the curriculum the school authorities must conduct capacity-building sessions jointly with the Social Justice and Empowerment Department.

He also stressed on the periodic visits of psychologists, and counsellors for conducting drug awareness campaigns in schools and colleges. It will robust the mental and physical health of children that would help in weaning them away from drugs, said the Minister.

Additional Director General of Police, Satwant Atwal Trivedi shared her views and the strategy to fight this social vice during the meeting. Secretary Education, Dr. Abhishek Jain, Director Higher Education, Dr. Amarjeet K Sharma, Director Elementary Education, Ghanshyam Chand and Director Technical Education, Vivek Chandel also attended the meeting.