Shimla

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said that various sports competitions, community outreach activities and youth engagement initiatives will be organised across the state to create widespread awareness about the harmful effects of drugs.

Presiding over a meeting of 'Khelo Himachal-Chitta Mukt Abhiyan' here on Tuesday evening, Sukhu said that it is a flagship initiative aimed at combating drug abuse through sports and youth engagement across the state.

During the meeting, he reviewed the campaign's strategy and roadmap, seeking to channelise the energy of the youth towards constructive and healthy activities while creating a strong social movement against the menace of 'Chitta'.

Expressing concern over the growing challenge of 'Chitta' and other narcotic substances, he said that drug addiction was not only destroying the lives of youth but also adversely affecting the families and society as a whole.

"The state government has adopted a multi-pronged approach to eradicate drug abuse by combining strict enforcement against drug networks with preventive and rehabilitative measures," he said.

Sukhu said that sports through 'Khelo Himachal-Chitta Mukt Abhiyan' will encourage youth participation in sports activities at the grass-root level and provide a positive alternative to substance abuse.

The chief minister stressed the need to create awareness among the youth against 'Chitta' across all 3,758 gram panchayats, eight municipal corporations, 29 municipal councils and 39 Nagar Panchayats of the state, with special focus on the 235 highly affected gram panchayats identified for intensive intervention.

He said that sports competitions will be organised at sub-divisional, district and state levels and for proper conduct, monitoring and supervision of tournaments at these levels, a technical committee would be deployed comprising referees from sports associations, youth services and sports, education and police departments.

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"Rs 11.56 crore will be allocated for organising these competitions and prize money would be given to the winner and runner-up teams," he added.

Sukhu further said that the vision of a 'Nasha-Mukt Himachal' could be realised only through collective efforts involving government agencies, educational institutions, sports organisations, local bodies, panchayati raj institutions and civil society.