Government to celebrate International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking on 26th June, 2025

The Department of Social Justice and Empowerment (DoSJE), Government of India, is organizing a programme to commemorate the occasion of International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, on 26th June 2025, at Dr. Ambedkar International Centre, New Delhi. Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, Shri B. L. Verma, would grace the occasion as Chief Guest, in the presence of Senior officers of the Department.

The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MoSJE) is the nodal Ministry for drug demand reduction in the country, which coordinates and monitors all aspects of drug abuse prevention, assessment of the extent of the problem, preventive action, treatment and rehabilitation of users, dissemination of information.

The MoSJE has initiated ambitious Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan (NMBA) and currently operational in all districts of the country with an aim to create awareness about ill effects of substance abuse among the youth, with special focus on higher education institutes, university campuses, schools and reaching out into the community and garnering community involvement and ownership of the Abhiyaan.

Achievements of NMBA:

1. Till now, through the various activities undertaken on-ground, 15.78+ crore people have been sensitized on substance use including 5.26+ Crore Youth and 3.31+ Crore Women.
2. Participation of 4.31+ Lakh educational institutions has ensured that the message of the Abhiyaan reaches children and youth of the country.
3. A strong force of 20,000+ Master Volunteers (MVs) have been identified and trained.
4. Awareness through official Social Media accounts of the Abhiyaan on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram.
5. NMBA Mobile Application developed to gather and collect the data of NMBA activities and represent on the NMBA Dashboard at district, state and national level, on a real-time basis by the districts and master volunteers. This App has been placed on the Google Play Store.
6. NMBA Website (http://nmba.dosje.gov.in) provides detailed information and insights to the user/viewer about the Abhiyaan, an online discussion forum, NMBA dashboard, e-pledge.
7. A National Online Pledge to be Drug Free had 1.67+ Crore students from 99,595 educational institutions pledging to be drug free.
8. Events like ‘Nashe se Azaadi- A National Youth and Students Interaction Programme’, ‘Naya Bharat, Nasha Mukt Bharat’, ‘NMBA Interaction with NCC’ are regularly organized to engage and connect with youth and other stakeholders.
9. MoUs have been signed with Spiritual/Social Service organizations like The Art of Living, Brahma Kumaris, Sant Nirankari Mission, Ram Chandra Mission (Daaji), ISKCON and All World Gayatri Parivaar to support to NMBA and conduct mass awareness activities.
10. All the de-addiction facilities have been geo-tagged for ease of access by the public.

Substance use disorder is an issue which is adversely affecting the social fabric of the country. Dependence to any substance not only affects the individual’s health but also disrupts their families and the whole society. Regular consumption of various psychoactive substances leads to dependence of the individual. Some substance compounds may lead to neuro-psychiatric disorders, cardiovascular   diseases, as well as accidents, suicides and violence. Therefore, substance use and dependence needs to be viewed as a psycho-social-medical problem.

Each year, 26^th June is observed as the ‘International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking’. All the States/UTs and all the NGOs/ VOs supported by DoSJE under the National Action Plan for Drug Demand Reduction (NAPDDR) across the country have been requested to take necessary steps to organize and conduct awareness programmes/events under NMBA from 1st June to 26th June 2025. With this programme, the Department would ensure to reach out the Abhiyaan in whole Country as a Jan Andolan.