🗞️ Why in News Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Nasha Mukt Yuva for Viksit Bharat Sankalp Abhiyan on August 2, 2026 by video conferencing, opening a 100-week nationwide campaign against substance abuse run through MY Bharat under the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.
The Campaign
| Parameter | Detail |
|---|---|
| Launched | 2 August 2026, by video conferencing |
| Duration | 100 weeks |
| Cadence | Weekly activities every Sunday |
| Implementing platform | MY Bharat, under the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports |
| Reported participation | Over one crore young citizens from more than 28,000 locations |
| Partner organisations | More than 125 spiritual organisations joined virtually |
| Activities | Walkathons, meditation sessions, nukkad nataks, cultural and sports events; a Nasha Mukti Pledge was administered |
The Distinction That Matters
A common and costly error is to conflate this campaign with the existing Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan. They are different programmes, run by different ministries, on different logics.
| Feature | Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan (NMBA) | Nasha Mukt Yuva for Viksit Bharat Sankalp Abhiyan |
|---|---|---|
| Ministry | Social Justice and Empowerment | Youth Affairs and Sports |
| Platform | Departmental, through district-level implementation | MY Bharat youth volunteer network |
| Primary approach | Awareness, identification of vulnerable districts, treatment and rehabilitation linkage | Jan Bhagidari mass mobilisation and peer-led behavioural change |
| Target group | General population, with a focus on identified vulnerable districts | Youth specifically |
Why the “Jan Bhagidari” Framing Is Analytically Interesting
Drug-control policy divides broadly into supply-side measures, which target production, trafficking and distribution through law enforcement, and demand-side measures, which target the decision to use. India’s principal statutory instrument, the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, is overwhelmingly a supply-side law, and the Narcotics Control Bureau is a supply-side agency.
A 100-week volunteer campaign is a demand-side intervention operating through social norms rather than through either enforcement or clinical treatment. The theory is that substance use among young people is substantially shaped by peer environment and social acceptability, and that sustained, visible, peer-led activity can shift what a peer group treats as normal. The weekly Sunday cadence over two years is itself the design choice worth noting: it is a bet that repetition and duration matter more than intensity, since norm change is slow.
| Approach | Instrument | Limitation |
|---|---|---|
| Supply-side | NDPS Act 1985; Narcotics Control Bureau | Enforcement alone does not reduce demand; interdiction raises price but can push users toward more concentrated substances |
| Treatment | De-addiction centres; National Action Plan for Drug Demand Reduction | Reaches people already dependent; does not prevent initiation |
| Behavioural/social norm | This campaign; peer-led mobilisation | Effects are diffuse and hard to measure; risks becoming performative if participation is mobilised rather than voluntary |
The Constitutional Anchor
Article 47, a Directive Principle of State Policy, directs the State to raise the level of nutrition and the standard of living and to improve public health, and specifically to “endeavour to bring about prohibition of the consumption except for medicinal purposes of intoxicating drinks and of drugs which are injurious to health.” This is the constitutional basis frequently cited for state action on substance abuse, and it is examinable in its own right as one of the DPSPs with a specific, concrete directive.
UPSC Relevance
GS Paper 2: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors; issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health; welfare schemes for vulnerable sections.
Prelims pointers:
- Nasha Mukt Yuva for Viksit Bharat Sankalp Abhiyan: launched 2 August 2026; 100 weeks; weekly Sunday activities; run through MY Bharat under the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.
- Distinct from Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan (NMBA), run by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
- Article 47 (DPSP): State to endeavour to prohibit consumption of intoxicating drinks and injurious drugs except for medicinal purposes.
- Principal statute: Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985; enforcement agency: Narcotics Control Bureau.
Mains question: “Supply-side enforcement and clinical treatment address the two ends of substance abuse and leave the middle untouched.” Examine the case for behavioural, peer-led demand-reduction campaigns, and the difficulty of evaluating them. (250 words)
📌 Facts Corner, Knowledgepedia
The campaign:
- Launched 2 August 2026 by the Prime Minister via video conferencing.
- 100 weeks, with weekly Sunday activities; run through MY Bharat, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.
- Reported over one crore young citizens from more than 28,000 locations; over 125 partner spiritual organisations.
Do not confuse: Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan (NMBA) is a separate programme run by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
Constitutional and legal frame:
- Article 47 (DPSP): prohibition of intoxicating drinks and injurious drugs except for medicinal purposes.
- NDPS Act, 1985; Narcotics Control Bureau.
Sources: Press Information Bureau, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Narcotics Control Bureau
Source: A Hundred Sundays: The Nasha Mukt Yuva Campaign and the Jan Bhagidari Model — Ujiyari.com | Free UPSC & State PCS Current Affairs
