Telangana govt plans new legislation to tackle drug menace
Hyderabad, July 24 (TNT): Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Friday directed officials to explore the possibility of introducing new legislation to deal firmly with the growing drug menace in the state.
During a review meeting on drug control, the Chief Minister called for stringent measures to curb drug abuse and stressed the need for greater accountability of educational institutions in preventing drug-related activities on campuses.
Revanth Reddy suggested obtaining declarations from students and making educational institution managements responsible for incidents related to drug abuse occurring within their premises.
He directed officials to examine framing rules to hold managements accountable and said educational institutions should be given both responsibility and authority to prevent drug-related activities.
The Chief Minister instructed officials to establish mechanisms to identify and report drug-related activities within and outside campuses. He suggested setting up dedicated units in educational institutions to monitor behavioural changes among students and discussed measures such as toll-free helplines and QR codes for reporting drug-related information.
Revanth Reddy proposed a three-stage strategy to address drug abuse in educational institutions — identifying students affected by drug use, helping them overcome addiction and taking strict action against repeat offenders.
He directed officials to send first-time offenders caught consuming drugs to de-addiction centres and consider stringent punishment for habitual offenders.
TNT TS
