Drug-Free Campus: Odisha Higher Education Dept Readies Blueprint; SOP To Be Released Soon

Bhubaneswar: All educational campuses across Odisha will become drug-free and detailed blueprint is being prepared by the Higher Education Department for the initiative.

As per plan, a massive drive will be undertaken in this regard from the coming academic session, said Higher Education Department Minister Arun Sahoo on Friday.

While attending a programme of the NSS in Bhubaneswar, Sahoo said that the Higher Education Department will soon issue guidelines in this regard.

“Be it drugs or gutkha, awareness drive will be undertaken in college campuses in the State. Earlier, the Health department had urged to include NSS volunteers and we have passed a resolution in this regard,” said Sahoo.

Though instances of consumption of drugs in educational institutes is much low in Odisha compared to other States, steps are being taken to rope in NSS volunteers to ensure that the campuses become drug-free.

At present there are over 1 lakh NSS volunteers in 21 government and private universities across the State.

Surekha Sundari Swain, Odisha NSS official said that a bulk of the time was lost due to COVID-19 lockdown. However, as the educational institutions have reopened, we will undertake special drives in technical universities and others with assistance from NGOs.