A Hundred Weeks Against Addiction: What the Nasha Mukt Yuva Campaign Is Actually Trying to Change
Demand reduction is the half of drug policy that cannot be done by enforcement — and a campaign is only as good as the treatment capacity waiting behind it
What happened
An aspirant should read this against the standing division in drug policy between supply reduction and demand reduction. Enforcement under the NDPS Act can seize consignments and prosecute traffickers, but it cannot make a seventeen-year-old decline the first dose, and it cannot treat dependence once established. A mass campaign is an instrument aimed squarely at the half of the problem policing cannot reach, which is also the half that is hardest to measure.
India's two-track drug policy
| Track | Lead ministry | Principal instruments |
|---|---|---|
| Supply reduction | Ministry of Home Affairs | NDPS Act, 1985; Narcotics Control Bureau; NCORD coordination tiers |
| Demand reduction | Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment | NAPDDR; Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan; Integrated Rehabilitation Centres for Addicts |
| New campaign | Cross-ministry, Jan Bhagidari model | 100 weeks of weekly Sunday activities; launched 2 August 2026 |
| Constitutional basis | — | Article 47, Directive Principle on prohibition of injurious drugs |
India's drug policy runs on two tracks that sit in different ministries.
●Supply reduction is governed by the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, enforced principally by the Narcotics Control Bureau under the Ministry of Home Affairs, with coordination through the Narco-Coordination Centre mechanism established in 2016 and its state and district-level tiers.
●Demand reduction sits with the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, which runs the National Action Plan for Drug Demand Reduction, the Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan launched in 2020, and funds Integrated Rehabilitation Centres for Addicts along with community-based peer-led interventions.
●The evidentiary base for both is the 2019 National Survey on Extent and Pattern of Substance Use in India, conducted by the National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre at AIIMS, which remains the only nationally representative estimate.
●Article 47 of the Constitution, a Directive Principle, directs the State to bring about prohibition of intoxicating drinks and drugs injurious to health.
Drug policy is split across two ministries by design — enforcement under Home Affairs, demand reduction under Social Justice — and campaigns fail when the second is not matched by treatment capacity.
◎ In Simple Words
The government has started a campaign to stop young people from getting into drugs. The Prime Minister spoke to more than a crore young people online at the same time. For the next hundred weeks there will be an activity every Sunday somewhere in the country, like a run, a street play or a sports match, to keep the message going and to make it something people do together rather than something they are lectured about.
Factual Pointers
Practice · 2 questions
Which Directive Principle of State Policy relates to prohibition of intoxicating drinks and drugs injurious to health?
In India's drug control architecture, demand reduction programmes are principally administered by which ministry?
Mains Practice Questions
"Enforcement can reduce supply but only society can reduce demand." Examine this proposition in the context of India's drug control policy.
Evaluate whether mass awareness campaigns against substance abuse can succeed without a commensurate expansion of treatment and rehabilitation capacity.
Discuss the tension between treating drug dependence as a criminal offence and as a public health condition, with reference to the NDPS Act, 1985.
Frequently Asked
· People also askWhat is the Nasha Mukt Yuva for Viksit Bharat Sankalp Abhiyan?
A nationwide anti-substance-abuse campaign launched by the Prime Minister on 2 August 2026 via video conferencing, reaching over one crore young people at more than 28,000 locations. It runs as a 100-week Jan Bhagidari campaign with weekly activities every Sunday.
GS2 · Social JusticeActivities include sports events, walkathons, meditation sessions, cultural programmes, nukkad nataks, discussion forums and art competitions, designed to address the occupational vacuum that facilitates initiation into drug use.
SOURCE Press Information Bureau · Prime Minister's Office
Which ministry handles drug demand reduction in India?
The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, through the National Action Plan for Drug Demand Reduction, the Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan launched in 2020, and funding for Integrated Rehabilitation Centres for Addicts. Supply reduction sits separately with the Ministry of Home Affairs.
GS2 · GovernanceThe Home Ministry enforces the NDPS Act, 1985 through the Narcotics Control Bureau, with coordination via the NCORD mechanism established in 2016 and its state and district tiers.
SOURCE Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment
What does the NDPS Act, 1985 govern?
The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 is India's principal drug law, prohibiting production, manufacture, possession, sale, transport and consumption of listed narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, with graded penalties by quantity and provisions permitting diversion of addicts to treatment in lieu of prosecution.
GS3 · Internal SecurityEnforcement runs through the Narcotics Control Bureau under the Ministry of Home Affairs. The treatment-diversion provisions exist but have been applied unevenly, which is central to debates on reorienting the law toward public health.
SOURCE Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985
How widespread is substance use in India?
India's benchmark estimate remains the 2019 National Survey on Extent and Pattern of Substance Use, conducted by AIIMS National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre for the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, which put opioid users at approximately 2.26 crore nationally.
GS2 · DataIt remains the only nationally representative estimate, which is a policy problem in itself: without a current baseline, a 2026 campaign can be evaluated only by events held and participants counted rather than by change in prevalence.
SOURCE AIIMS National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre, 2019
Which constitutional provision covers drug prohibition?
Article 47, a Directive Principle of State Policy, directs the State to raise nutrition levels and public health, and specifically to endeavour to bring about prohibition of consumption of intoxicating drinks and of drugs injurious to health, except for medicinal purposes.
GS2 · PolityAs a Directive Principle it is non-justiciable, meaning it cannot be enforced by a court, but it provides the constitutional grounding for statutes such as the NDPS Act and for state prohibition policies.
SOURCE Constitution of India, Article 47
Why do experts stress treatment capacity alongside awareness campaigns?
Because awareness generates demand for services. A campaign that persuades a dependent user to seek help fails them if the nearest Integrated Rehabilitation Centre is distant, full or clinically weak, converting hope into disillusionment and deterring future help-seeking.
GS2 · Public healthStigma is the second constraint: where use is framed as moral failure rather than treatable dependence, users conceal it. Public health evidence consistently identifies stigma reduction as a precondition for treatment uptake.
SOURCE Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment