Ministry launches NAPDDR, National Action Plan to combat drug abuse

Tags: National News

The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment launched the National Action Plan for Drug Demand Reduction (NAPDDR) to provide financial assistance to State Governments/UT Administrations and NGOs/VOs for various initiatives related to Drug Demand Reduction.

An Overview of the News

• NAPDDR includes preventive education, awareness generation, capacity building, skill development, vocational training and livelihood support for ex-drug addicts, among other programmes.

Drug Free India Campaign (NMBA)

• NMBA is a program launched in 2020 to tackle substance abuse in 372 vulnerable districts.

• The focus is on raising awareness in educational institutions, schools and communities.

• It aims to identify and help drug dependent people by providing them counselling and treatment facilities.

Effect of NMBA

• More than 10.47 crore people including 3.34 crore youth and 2.22 crore women have been sensitised about drug abuse through various activities.

• More than 3.23 lakh educational institutions have participated in spreading the message.

• A corps of 8,000+ Master Volunteers (MVs) has been trained to support this cause.

Outreach through Social Media and Technology

• NMBA uses social media accounts on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to raise awareness.

• A dedicated mobile application helps in collecting data on NMBA activities and provides a dashboard to track the progress.

• The NMBA website (http://nmba.dosje.gov.in) provides detailed information, an online discussion forum and resources.

Encourage Drug-free Commitment

• A national online pledge has seen participation of 1.67 crore students across 99,595 educational institutions.

• Collaborating with spiritual/social service organisations

• NMBA has signed MoUs with organisations such as The Art of Living, Brahma Kumaris and Sant Nirankari Mission for advocacy and public awareness activities.