The youth wing of Punjab unit’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday organised a ‘Run Against Drugs’ programme to mark the International day against drug abuse and illicit trafficking.
The run was organised at nearly 28 places in this border State with Union Minister and BJP’s State president Vijay Sampla himself leading in Mukerian. The ‘say no to drugs’ run initiative, under the aegis of BJP, found unprecedented support, especially from youth who came out in large numbers to run against drugs, said Punjab BJP State secretary Vineet Joshi,
Sampla said: “The menace of drug-abuse could only be rooted out with collaborative efforts of parents, society and the Government…Role of parents is most important and non-ignorable, then comes society and Government is in the end. Ideal parenting can ensure eradication of evils, like drug-abuse, dowry, female foeticide, caste inequality, etc from the society.”
The State BJP’s yuva morcha leaders reached out to the people at distant places in many villages and sub-divisions to ensure that the message against drugs is comprehensively delivered, said Joshi.
The event was organised at Hoshiarpur, Amritsar, Ferozepur, Gurdaspur, Pathankot, Jalandhar, ludhiana, Bathinda, Patiala, Muktsar, Barnala, Faridkot, Kapurthala, Nawanshahr, Nabha, Ajnala, Malerkotla, Fazilka, Mohali, Jagraon, Khanna, Rajpura, Tarn Taran, Ropar, village Hamirgarh in Sangrur district, Batala and Mukerian.
BJP’s national vice-president Avinash Khanna led the ‘Run Against Drugs’ in Hoshiarpur, while former state presidents Prof Rajinder Bhandari, Ashwani Sharma, Prof Brij lal Rinwa, and Kamal Sharma led in Jalandhar, ludhiana, Bathinda and Patiala, added Joshi.
Former Ministers Anil Joshi led in Gurdaspur, Arunesh Shakar in Pathankot, Manoranjan Kalia in Amritsar, among others. “This exercise by Punjab BJP is one of the largest efforts against drugs in Punjab on International Anti-Drugs day,” claimed Joshi.