Drugs on campus? UP colleges to check delivery parcels, inspect hostels

What the Governor said

At the convocation ceremony of Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gorakhpur University, Patel on Thursday said drugs and other intoxicants were being found in almost every university she visited and stressed that educational institutions must become centres of character-building rather than addiction.

“In almost every university, I found narcotic substances thrown outside hostels. I have all the photographs. Is it a drug-free India?” she claimed.

Inside the campaign

The decision to launch the anti-drug drive was taken at a meeting of registrars and controllers of examinations of state universities chaired by Higher Education Minister Yogendra Upadhyay, where a detailed action plan was finalised to implement the Centre’s Nasha Mukt Bharat campaign in universities and colleges across the state.

Students displaying signs of substance abuse will be counselled and, where necessary, their parents will be involved in the rehabilitation process, the government said.

Apart from students taking a two-minute anti-drug pledge at the start of every working day at all government and private universities and colleges, teachers will devote the last 10 minutes of their class every week to discussions on the dangers of substance abuse and the importance of a drug-free life, it is learnt.

To create awareness, institutions will organise ‘Run for Nasha Mukti’ events, marathons, rallies, essay and speech competitions, painting contests, plays and street theatre. Educational visits to cultural and spiritual sites will also be encouraged to promote positive values, officials said.

For monitoring purposes, the Higher Education Department has divided the state into five zones, each headed by a senior nodal officer. Universities, colleges will also designate nodal officers to oversee implementation of the campaign.

Addressing the meeting, Minister Upadhyay said the state’s higher educational institutions should serve not only as centres of learning but also as institutions that promote values, discipline and nation-building.

“The youth is the greatest strength of a developed India. If they remain free from the menace of substance abuse, the future of both the state and the nation will improve for the better,” he said.