Students should stay away from drugs in order to secure their future, said Deputy Inspector General (DIG), South Coastal Zone, Trivikram Varma.
Addressing students of VFSTR (Vignan Deemed to be University), Mr. Varma said that drug abuse and women’s safety are two issues that are of paramount importance for the State.
“Andhra Pradesh is second in alcohol consumption with 47% of alcohol addicts, and seventh in opium consumption with 3.67 lakh addicts. Students should not harbour thoughts of using any kinds of drugs as these will severely affect the physiological state of a person,” said Mr. Varma.
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He explained the adverse effects drugs can cause and gave details regarding the types of drugs, and the different stages of addiction that one goes through.
“The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act prohibits production, manufacturing, cultivation, possession, sale, purchasing, transport, storage, and consumption of any narcotic drug. And for each and every mentioned crime, there are varying degrees of punishment,” Mr. Varma told the students.
“A complaint box would be installed on the campus to enable students to voice their complaints or grievances. Students can also directly contact 7382296118, the CID’s Narcotic Cell, via WhatsApp,” Mr. Varma said.
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He asked students to make use of the Disha app which can help women in a time of crisis.
“With the introduction of the Disha Act, the crime rate has gone down by 7.9% from 2019-2020. Before the introduction of Disha Act, it took nearly 200 days to complete the investigation. Now, the average timespan has come down to 53 days, and 457 cases were investigated within seven days,” the DIG said.
Superintendent of Police, Guntur Urban, R.N. Ammi Reddy advised the staff to sensitise the students about women harassment and the adverse effects of drug abuse.
He advised female students and staff to make use of the SOS feature provided on mobile phones.
Vice-Chairman of Vignan Deemed to be University Lavu Krishna Devarayalu urged students to build a safer society for women and girl children and asked female students to make full use of the Disha app.