The district unit of the Social Justice Department is launching an intense one-week campaign as part of the Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyan from Saturday in connection with International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.
Thiruvananthapuram is among the six districts in the State that fall in the most affected category in substance use.
District Social Justice Officer Shinymol M. said a district-level monitoring committee decided that Director General of Prisons and Correctional Services Rishi Raj Singh would inaugurate the week-long programmes.
On June 28, Prajesh Sen, director of the film Vellam, and Government Medical College Hospital, Thiruvananthapuram, Resident Medical Officer Mohan Roy will participate in a webinar ‘Substance abuse and media.’
On June 29, the State-level inauguration of the Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyan will be held here by Minister for Food and Civil Supplies G.R. Anil. A puppet show by Sunil Pattimattom; motivational speech by magician Gopinath Muthukad; awareness programme on how to stop use of intoxicants by T.V. Anil Kumar, head of the Department of Psychiatry at Government Medical College Hospital, Thiruvananthapuram, will be held.
On June 30, playback singer G. Venugopal will give a message against drub abuse. This will be followed by an interactive session on healthy lifestyle by Prasanth C.V. of the Palliative Medicine Department at the Regional Cancer Centre for students, parents, and teachers. On July 1, Sheeba G. Soman from the Mental Health Centre, Peroorkada, will speak to Kudumbashree workers on role of social treatment in checking dependence on substances.
A quiz on drug abuse for students will be held on July 2 by L.R. Madhujan of Karunasai deaddiction institute, Vellanad.
A number of other initiatives will be held with focus on tribal, coastal, and migrant population, Ms. Shinymol said.
