The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has been working towards creating an inclusive and equitable society for all its citizens. Over the past nine years, the ministry has launched several schemes and initiatives aimed at empowering marginalized sections of society, including students from Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes through scholarships, elderly citizens, safai karmcharis, and transgender people.
The aim of Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan (NMBA) is 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.
NMBA was launched on 15th August 2020 by Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment and is presently being implemented in 372 identified most vulnerable districts.
Being a campaign mode programme, the Abhiyaan has targeted and involved stakeholders that might be directly or indirectly affected by substance abuse and those who are vulnerable to it. The major stakeholders and beneficiaries of NMBA are Youth, Women, Children, Educational Institutions, Civil Society and Community at large. Since its launch, a wide range of activities have been conducted throughout the country that has fostered participation from all quarters of society and stakeholders. There has been a shift from an earlier approach of organizational involvement to community involvement in the issue of substance abuse. The States, Districts and other stakeholders have taken ownership of the Abhiyaan that has helped transform the Abhiyaan into a Jan andolan.
The achievements of NMBA through the various activities undertaken on-ground, 9.91+crore people have been sensitized on substance use including 3.22+Crore Youth and 2.14+Crore Women. Participation of 3.18+Lakh educational institutions has ensured that the message of the Abhiyaan reaches children and youth of the country. A strong force of 8,000+ Master Volunteers (MVs) have been identified and trained. Awareness through official Social Media accounts of the Abhiyaan on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram. 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. NMBA Website (http://nmba.dosje.gov.in) provides detailed information and insights to the user/viewer about the Abhiyaan, its reach out in States & Districts and the activities conducted under the Abhiyaan so far people can take e-pledge to join the Abhiyaan. A National Online Pledge to be Drug Free had 1.67+ Crore students from 99,595 educational institutions pledging to be drug free. Sportsperson like Olympic Medalist Ravi Kumar Dahiya, Suresh Raina, Ajinkhya Rahane, Sandeep Singh, Savita Poonia have shared messages in support of NMBA. 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. MoUs have been with Spiritual/Social Service organizations like The Art of Living, Brahma Kumaris & Sant Nirankari Mission to support to NMBA and conduct mass awareness activities. The National De-addiction helpline ‘14446’ A Toll-free Helpline for de-addiction, 14446 provides primary counseling and immediate referral services to the persons from the very first call itself. 2.8+ lakh calls have been received on the calls so far. A helpline dashboard has also been developed which provides state, district and caller specific data all the while keeping anonymity.
There has been a 37% increase in people seeking counseling and de-addiction services from MoSJE supported centers since the launch of Abhiyaan in 2020. MoSJE seeks the support of everyone in spreading the message of ill effects of substance abuse and to stay from the use of such substances.
