CHANDIGARH: The Punjab Government, led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, has expanded its anti-drug initiative ‘Yudh Nashean Virudh’ into a comprehensive five-pillar framework aimed at eradicating drug abuse across the state. The strategy integrates police enforcement, early preventive education, youth engagement, community vigilance, and accessible healthcare facilities into a single coordinated campaign.
Under the first pillar of enforcement, the Anti-Narcotics Task Force registered 61,824 FIRs and arrested 81,433 individuals between March 2025 and September 2026, recovering significant quantities of contraband. The second and third pillars focus on prevention and youth participation, introducing a 14-week anti-drug curriculum across 3,600 schools for 7.5 lakh students and training high school teachers to identify early signs of substance vulnerability. Grassroots vigilance forms the fourth pillar, with nearly 15,000 Village and Ward Defence Committees established, supported by over 51,000 citizen tip-offs received through the Safe Punjab WhatsApp Helpline. Addressing treatment as the fifth pillar, the administration expanded healthcare infrastructure to 547 OOAT centres, 219 de-addiction centres, and 91 rehabilitation facilities, resulting in an institutional admission increase of over 170 percent from 2024 to 2025.
