Tripura rolls out awareness campaign on drug abuse, road safety for college students

The food and transport departments announced quiz competitions on road safety, consumer protection, and drug abuse.

To promote consumer protection, road safety, and drug abuse awareness among students in Tripura, the state government has decided to launch a series of awareness programmes targeted at college and university students. This initiative follows Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s call to adopt a zero-tolerance policy toward drug abuse.

Recent police data indicated that 261 people died in road accidents in 2023, compared to 226 fatalities the previous year. In response to this alarming trend, the state government decided to take a novel approach to road safety by raising awareness of the issue among students.

The food and transport departments on Saturday announced quiz competitions on three important topics: road safety, consumer protection, and drug abuse. These competitions will involve students from colleges and universities across the state.

“Every year, road safety programmes are organised. But unlike other years, we have decided to organise it in a different style this time. We have decided to spread it to all the colleges and universities this year. We shall also target the school students in future,” Transport, Tourism, Food and Civil Supplies Minister Sushanta Chowdhury said.

While addressing the media at the Civil Secretariat, Chowdhury announced that the programme will be inaugurated in Udaipur, Gomati district, on January 11. College and university students from Sepahijala, Gomati, and South districts will participate in a quiz contest.

The quiz contest is scheduled to take place in two locations. The first event will be held in Kumarghat, Unakoti district, on January 18, featuring students from colleges in the North, Unakoti, and Dhalai districts. The second event will occur in Agartala on January 27, where students from colleges in the West and Khowai districts will participate.

College students must register for the quiz contest in Udaipur by January 10. For Kumarghat and Agartala, students from those districts need to register by January 14 and 25, respectively.

“We will provide syllabi for three topics: consumer protection, road safety, and drug abuse. The competition will be based on these syllabi,” said the minister, adding that they would organise rallies with college students to raise awareness of these three issues.

Winners from these three quiz contests will participate in a central quiz competition scheduled to be held in Agartala on February 8. The minister mentioned that a “renowned motivational speaker” will also attend the event. The government will provide laptops, smartphones, mobile phones, tablets, and smart TVs as prizes to winners in order to raise awareness on these issues.

“Our department supplied advanced interceptor vehicles to the traffic department in eight districts to enhance road safety. Over the past year, we observed a 13 per cent reduction in fatalities following the implementation of this new modern system. As a result, we have decided that the Food and Transport departments will jointly organise awareness programs throughout the state in innovative ways,” Chowdhury said.

When asked about the decision to include these topics in the school syllabus, Chowdhury said, “We have received proposals regarding whether this can be done. I have noted this and will discuss it with the Chief Minister soon. While we cannot make changes for NCERT, we will explore the possibility of implementing them in SCERT.”

The minister emphasised that simply organising a one-day awareness program on road safety, drug abuse, and consumer protection will not lead to any meaningful results unless students are fully informed. “If we do not raise awareness among motorbike users, the positive outcomes of our programs will not materialise,” he said.

During the 72nd NEC plenary meeting at Pragati Bhawan in Agartala, Home Minister Amit Shah emphasised the Central government’s ‘Nasha Mukt Bharat’ (drug-free India) initiative. He highlighted the importance of special participation from the Northeast region in this movement to eradicate narcotics. Shah noted that narcotics not only harm future generations but also have far-reaching consequences.