Nasha Mukt Yuva Abhiyan for Viksit Bharat

Context

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Nasha Mukt Yuva for Viksit Bharat Sankalp Abhiyan, announcing that youth who can overcome drug addiction are true warriors, who are very courageous. A nationwide anti-substance abuse campaign for 100 weeks engages the community, ensures family dialogue and imposes strict measures to create a healthy and developed India by 2047.

Background and Launch of the Campaign

• The Initiative: Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Nasha Mukt Yuva for Viksit Bharat Sankalp Abhiyan (Campaign for Drug-Free Youth for a Developed India).
• Duration and Format: Nationwide public movement (Jan Andolan) as a structured 100-week programme with cultural, sports, meditation and community service programmes each Sunday to spread de-addiction awareness.
• Collaborative Approach: Engages over 125 spiritual and industrial groups in a total of 28,000 locations in the country, with educational bodies and MY Bharat volunteers.

Core Messages Addressed by the Prime Minister

• Temporary High vs. Long-Term Low: Reminded people that smoking drugs gives them a quick buzz but leads to jobs that are lost, family happiness that is lost, and future potential that is lost.
• Redefining Resilience: Stated that young people who fight back and exit the cycle of addiction are not weak, but real warriors possessing true courage and identity. 
• Eliminating Social Stigma: Encouraged families and society to break the cycle of stigma, no longer covering up the abuse of substances, and treat the survivors with dignity and respect, giving them another chance at life.
• Parental Role: Emphasized the need for open and honest discourse between the parent and the child to recognize early warning signs and get medical/expert intervention early.

Security and Geopolitical Dimensions

• Narcotics and National Security: Underlined that drugs trafficking, which is being used by hostile foreign states, is an instrument of terror and a proxy method to weaken India’s demographic dividend.
• State Action: Ticked off to the powerful enforcement agency Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) for their tougher drug raids which have resulted in large seizures of thousands of crores and the arrest of many drug smugglers.

Sociological and Ethical Dimensions

• Destigmatization of Recovery: The PM’s framing of survivors as “Real Warriors” shifts the public policy narrative from punitive moral policing to therapeutic rehabilitation. It’s asking for a society to acknowledge their strength. 
• “Social Prestige” Paradigms: The address specifically condemned family members concealing substance abuse because of a perceived threat to their social standing. It encourages openness and early medical care rather than hiding in society. 
• Academic Responsibility: It urges faculty members at universities and teachers to eliminate academic rigidities by making it mandatory to hold discussions in the classroom about the risks of substance abuse without evaluation. 

Challenges and Strategy for the Way Forward

• Supply-Side Interdiction: It requires that enforcement agencies such as the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) and the National Investigation Agency (NIA) significantly ramp up their intelligence-sharing efforts to disrupt cross-border supply networks (including the Golden Crescent and Golden Triangle). 
• Standardisation of De-addiction Centres: Private de-addiction centres require scientific methods and standardisation to prevent human rights violations. 
• Real-Time Analytical Dashboard: Government Schemes need to use real-time analytical dashboards on MY Bharat to map hot-spots of use of synthetic drugs such as fentanyl and methamphetamine in border districts. 

Source: PIB

UPSC Mains Practice Question 

Q. Drug abuse among youth poses a serious threat to India’s demographic dividend and social development. Discuss the major causes of substance abuse and suggest a comprehensive strategy for prevention, rehabilitation and enforcement.

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