The Excise Department, in association with the Vimukthi Mission and the Kudumbashree Mission, has launched a programme to visit homes to create awareness among the children about the dangers of alcohol and narcotics as part of an ongoing month-long awareness programme coinciding with the 152nd birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
Home visits were organised in the city on Friday to coincide with the birthday of former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. With ‘Say No To Drinks, Say No To Drugs’ as the message, the workers of the two missions, along with civic body councillors, interacted with children in 150 households each of the Vallakadavu and Poonthura wards in Thiruvananthapuram Corporation.
Kalam’s books
Besides speaking to the children about the harmful effects of drugs, the team also gifted them Dr. Kalam’s books and pamphlets carrying messages against use of narcotics.
The round was led by Assistant Excise Commissioner P.K. Jayaraj, who is also the manager of the Vimukthi Mission, Thiruvananthapuram. Councillors Shajitha Nasser and Mary Gypsy, Thiruvananthapuram CDS vice chairperson Padmaja S., Thiruvananthapuram Excise Circle Inspector C.K. Anilkumar, and Excise Range Inspector V.G. Sunil were among those present.
Vimukthi Mission and Kudumbashree volunteers will together continue the anti-drug drive by visiting houses in the coming days in other areas of the Corporation and local bodies in the district.
‘Unarvu’ under way
Apart from this, the Excise Department’s ‘Unarvu’ project that aims at curbing the use of drugs among schoolchildren is already underway involving schoolteachers, parents, excise officials, representatives of local bodies and residents besides traders and business people of the area. The efforts focus on routing the minds of students away from drug addiction and into creative ventures such as arts and sports.
