The Department of Social Justice and Empowerment (DoSJE), Government of India, is organising a program to commemorate the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking on June 26, 2025, at the Dr. Ambedkar International Centre in New Delhi.
The Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, Shri B. L. Verma, will be the Chief Guest at the event, which will also be attended by senior officers from the department.
The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MoSJE) serves as the nodal ministry for drug demand reduction in the country. It coordinates and monitors all aspects of drug abuse prevention, assesses the extent of the problem, and oversees preventive actions, treatment, and rehabilitation for users, as well as the dissemination of information.
The MoSJE has launched the ambitious Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan (NMBA), which is currently operational in all districts of the country. The initiative aims to create awareness about the harmful effects of substance abuse, particularly among youth, with a special focus on higher education institutions, university campuses, and schools, while also engaging with the community to foster involvement and ownership of the campaign.
**Achievements of NMBA:**
– To date, over 15.78 crore people have been sensitised to substance use, including more than 5.26 crore youth and 3.31 crore women.
– Participation from over 4.31 lakh educational institutions has ensured the message of the NMBA reaches children and youth nationwide.
– A strong force of over 20,000 Master Volunteers (MVs) has been identified and trained.
– Awareness has been spread through official social media accounts of the NMBA on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
– An NMBA mobile application has been developed to gather and display data on NMBA activities, represented on a dashboard at district, state, and national levels in real-time by the districts and master volunteers. This app is available on the Google Play Store.
– The NMBA website (http://nmba.dosje.gov.in) provides detailed information and insights about the campaign, an online discussion forum, the NMBA dashboard, and an e-pledge.
– A National Online Pledge to be Drug-Free has attracted over 1.67 crore students from 99,595 educational institutions, committing to remain drug-free.
– Events such as ‘Nashe se Azaadi: A National Youth and Students Interaction Programme’, ‘Naya Bharat, Nasha Mukt Bharat’, and ‘NMBA Interaction with NCC’ are regularly organised to engage with youth and other stakeholders.
– Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) have been signed with spiritual and social service organisations, including The Art of Living, Brahma Kumaris, Sant Nirankari Mission, Ram Chandra Mission (Daaji), ISKCON, and All World Gayatri Parivaar to support the NMBA and conduct mass awareness activities.
– All de-addiction facilities have been geo-tagged for better access by the public.
Substance use disorder significantly impacts the social fabric of our country. Dependency on substances adversely affects not only the individual’s health but also disrupts families and society as a whole. Regular consumption of psychoactive substances can lead to dependence and may result in neuropsychiatric disorders, cardiovascular diseases, accidents, suicides, and violence. Hence, substance use and dependence must be addressed as a psycho-social-medical issue.
June 26th is observed each year as the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking. All states/UTs and NGOs/VOs supported by the DoSJE under the National Action Plan for Drug Demand Reduction (NAPDDR) have been requested to organise and conduct awareness programs or events related to the NMBA from June 1 to June 26, 2025. Through these efforts, the Department aims to mobilise the campaign across the country as a public movement (Jan Andolan).
