Parents sending kids abroad for studies due to drug menace: CM

CHANDIGARH: Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Monday said many parents were sending their children abroad for studies due to drug menace in the state.

“If Punjab is made a drug-free state, then there will be no need for parents to send their children abroad. We are going all out to tackle the drug problem in the state,” he said before launching an anti-drug campaign of the Joint Action Committee of 1,600 unaided colleges in the state. He gave a call to educational institutions to join hands with the state government to battle the menace.

The CM, along with several of his cabinet colleagues and Congress secretary in-charge of Punjab Asha Kumari, joined the JAC chairman and members on the occasion in taking the oath of making the educational campuses drug-free and educate students about the ill-effects and consequences of drugs.

In his speech, the CM said with lakhs of students and employees in the various unaided colleges, their support was critical to taking the fight against drugs forward. The efforts by the police and the health department had led to shortage of drugs, causing youth to use concoctions, leading to death, said the CM, adding, however, that with more and more people realising the dangers of drugs, they were rushing to hospitals after shunning the social stigma. “Education, pushed by teachers, can play an important role in the fight against drugs. We have already announced a decision to cut budgets of other departments to give boost to quality education in the state,” he said.

Amarinder urged the management of the educational institutions to involve students in the sports and extracurricular activities in order to constructively channelize their unbounded energy. Punjab CM Capt Amarinder Singh with Congress’ Punjab affairs incharge Asha Kumari, health minister Brahm Mohindra (right) and minister Gurmit Sodhi (left) and others during the launch of an antidrug drive in Chandigarh. ANIL DAYAL/HT