Hyderabad: TGANB holds three day anti-drug abuse programme

Hyderabad: The Telangana anti-narcotics bureau (TGANB) on Wednesday, October 23, mooted a three-day anti-drug abuse campaign.

The anti-drug campaign will be conducted till October 26, with a focus on eradication of drug abuse from Telangana, rehabilitation for youth and making it a drug-free state.

As part of the initiative, Prahari Clubs in all high schools anti-drug committees (ADCs) in all educational institutions are being formed to wean away children from drug abuse and to stop the selling of drugs in surrounding areas of schools/education and child care institutions through convergent actions in a time-bound manner.

So far, 4511 prahari clubs have been formed in various educational institutions. To deal with the drug menace comprehensively, the efforts of the police and other law enforcement agencies are not sufficient but the support of other stakeholders including students and educational institutions, is essential.

As per TGANB, the conviction rate under the NDPS Act is very low while 4 percent of cases detected by the Telangana prohibition and excise department are convicted only 11 per cent of cases detected by the police are convicted. To increase conviction rates, training programmes are being conducted for investigative officers.

Addressing the students at the Marichenna Reddy HRD Institute, TGANB director Sandeep Shandilya said, “The primary objective of this awareness campaign is to make students, youth, teachers, villagers, Telangana citizens become completely aware of the ill effects of drugs. They are also motivated to enrol as anti-drug soldier (who never quits) in the fight against drug abuse & illicit trafficking.”