In a major move to engage the community in the fight against drugs, Punjab Deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal has directed the Youth Services department to engage two lakh volunteers to create awareness amongst the masses, especially students, about the perils of drugs addiction.The student volunteers will also partner with NGOs as well as health and police officials who are already engaged in carrying out a massive drug de addiction programme across 141 community health centers in the State.An official spokesman here today said the Youth Welfare department had started the process of enlisting volunteers for this drive and urged the youth to respond enthusiastically to this initiative.
The Spokesman said the Deputy chief minister had also directed the Youth Services department to take the help of existing youth clubs and encourage formation of new youth clubs so that this volunteer force could be spread out all over the State. These youth clubs will be strengthened further with the State government deciding to provide sports kits to all registered youth and sports clubs in the state during current financial year. The state had already distributed 6,940 multi-gyms and 23,553 sports kits worth Rs. 47 crore in last fiscal.
The spokesman said the enrollment drive, which would continue till December this year, would also involve training student leaders so that they could effectively disseminate information about drug addiction as well as help in weaning away youth addicted to drugs.The Youth Services department has also chalked out a programme to take this drive to Universities and Colleges across the State. It will hold seminars, youth festivals as well as youth meetings to create awareness about drugs. Specific camps will also be organized where needed to help in drug addicts to get rid of the habit. A separate monitoring cell is also being created in the Youth Services department to monitor the progress of the drive and suggest new measures to make it successful.
Meanwhile the spokesman disclosed that presently there are 6200 registered youth/sports clubs in the State and that it had been decided to constitute 1800 more such clubs. These clubs regularly hold youth leadership training camps besides adventure and trekking expeditions and also inter State tours for nearly 10,000 youth every year.Besides this, the spokesman said the construction of Yuva Bhawan at Sector 42, Chandigarh would be completed tillDecember 15 at a cost of Rs. 24 crore which would be useful for students coming from all parts of Punjab for various academic and youth activities. This establishment also includes a Centre for Youth Excellence, a seminar hall and an intensive training cell for students.