Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will on Sunday launch a social campaign to create awareness against the growing abuse of liquor and narcotic drugs in the State.
Veteran cricketer Sachin Tendulkar is the brand ambassador of the crusade against substance abuse and inebriation.
Rishiraj Singh, Excise Commissioner, said here on Friday that the three-pronged strategy envisaged enhanced enforcement to reduce the availability of drugs and bootleg liquor, rehabilitation programmes for addicts, and coordinated action at the level of neighbourhood watch groups.
The campaign, Vimukthi Mission, will enlist the service of National Service Scheme volunteers, Student Police Cadets, Parent-Teacher Associations, Kudumbasree workers, and credible non-profit organisations experience in the field of de-addiction. Vimukthi will focus on the perils of substance abuse, including tobacco, narcotic drugs, alcohol, pain killers, inhalants, and solvents.
It will target indigent sections of society, especially tribal communities and slum dwellers, who are among those most vulnerable to drug abuse. Schools and college managements will also be roped in.
Scanners at check-posts
State and district-level committees will coordinate the activities of the mission. Chief Minister will be the chairman.
The government will install scanners at major check-posts to detect large scale illicit spirit smuggling. The Excise Department will work with the Drugs Control Department to check the abuse of pain killers as a cheap and easily procurable substitute for narcotics.
