AIIMS Mangalagiri concludes ten-day Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyan campaign to promote a drug-free society

A street play.

A candlelight march.

A pledge whispered by hundreds of students at once.

For ten days, AIIMS Mangalagiri turned its corridors into a battleground.

Not against a virus this time.

Against something quieter. Slower. Far more personal.

Addiction.

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🕯️ Why this campaign hits different

From June 17 to June 26, the Department of Psychiatry ran the Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyan Saptah — a ten-day sprint to wake people up to a crisis India often whispers about, but rarely confronts.

And the scale of that crisis? Brutal.

• 🧠 7.1 crore Indians are estimated to be caught in some form of substance use
• 💉 8.5 lakh people inject drugs intravenously — concentrated in pockets like Punjab, UP and Delhi
• 🌏 The nationwide mission has already reached 11.2 crore+ citizens since launch

This isn't a niche problem. It's a generational one.

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🎭 What AIIMS Mangalagiri actually did

They didn't just hang posters and call it a day.

They performed the message.

• 🤝 An anti-drug pledge taken by students, faculty, nurses, admin staff and support workers — together
• 🎤 A Nukkad Natak (street play) that spilled into a public awareness rally
• 🕯️ A candlelight march through the hostels — the kind of image that sticks in your head long after the flames die
• 🏫 Outreach drives into schools and youth communities nearby
• 🏆 Quizzes, posters, essays and even reel-making contests built around the theme: Break the Cycle and Stop Organised Crime

Notice the last one.

Reels.

They're meeting Gen Z where Gen Z actually lives.

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⚡ The bigger idea hiding inside

Most anti-drug campaigns talk at young people.

This one tried to talk through them.

Street plays performed by peers. Marches lit by classmates. Reels created, not consumed.

Because the truth psychiatrists know better than anyone:

👉 You don't scare a generation out of addiction.

👉 You build resilience into them — early, loudly, and in their own language.

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🎯 The takeaway

Ten days won't fix a 7-crore problem.

But ten days can shift a campus. A neighbourhood. A few hundred young minds who'll now think twice — and maybe pull a friend back from the edge.

That's how movements actually start.

Not with policy papers.

With a candle, a script, and a pledge said out loud.

That's all for now!