Expressing concern over the “devastating” drug addiction menace, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said recently society as well as the government will have to work together to fight this problem and that a helpline would be set up soon to assist those seeking solutions. In his third ‘Mann Ki Baat’ programme aired on radio, he said the menace is a “national pain” but instead of the youth mired in the problem, drugs should be shunned. He said drug addiction is “a malaise filled 3D – darkness, destruction and devastation – as it leads to the dark alleys of destruction and devastation”. The Prime Minister said a thinking process should begin to ensure that the country is rid of this problem and added that he will try to involve celebrities from the cine world, sports and other fields to campaign for a “drug-free India”. “For long, I have been having concern about the young generation…That some son has got caught in such a quagmire where everything is devastated. Drugs are such a devastation,” Modi said in his broadcast to the nation. At the same time, he said, “drug addiction is bad, not the child.” Describing it as a psycho-socio-medical problem, he said the family, friends, society, government and the law will have to work together to fight it as working in pieces will not help. He said he had asked his officials to set up a toll free helpline soon to assist those seeking answers to the problem. The Prime Minister also suggested launching a special drive on social media against the menace. The worst affected by this menace is Punjab where a political war had broken out in 2012 after Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi stated in Chandigarh that seven out of ten youths in the state had a problem of drugs. Punjab Deputy CM Sukhbir Badal had claimed the survey figures were distorted. The state Congress termed it a clear indictment of the Punjab Government by the PM. The Prime Minister must set the agenda and tell the nation what he plans to do and not just what should be done.
