Calling for a nationwide movement against substance abuse, Vice-President C.P. Radhakrishnan on Sunday urged educational institutions, healthcare professionals, law enforcement agencies and civil society to work together to build a “Nasha Mukt Bharat”, saying the fight against drugs must begin with individuals and extend to a nationwide movement. 

Speaking at the Nasha Mukt Bharat Conclave organised by the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS), during the university’s 31st Foundation Day celebrations at Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru, the Vice-President said substance abuse was “not merely a health issue but one that affected educational attainment, productivity, social cohesion and national development.”  

“A drug-free India was not simply the absence of drugs, but the presence of healthy choices, informed decisions, supportive families and resilient communities,” he said. 

Referring to the large number of students who took a pledge to make Bengaluru, Karnataka and India drug-free, he said every young life lost to addiction represented a “loss of national potential.” Stressing that drugs rob people of control over their own minds and lives, he said future doctors and public health professionals must become ‘ambassadors’ of awareness and play a leading role in prevention, treatment, research and evidence-based policymaking. 

On the sidelines of the event, the Vice-President also administered polio vaccine drops to infants as part of Karnataka’s National Pulse Polio Drive. 

Ban of tobacco products

Backing the call against the drug menace, Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar said the State government was prepared to take stringent measures to curb substance abuse, including banning the sale of pan masala and other chewing tobacco products if they were found to contain banned intoxicating substances. 

Mr. Shivakumar said the government had received information that intoxicating substances were being mixed into products such as pan masala, gutka and areca nut to produce a drug-like “high”. “If such practices were found to continue, the State would not hesitate to prohibit the sale of these products in Karnataka,” he said. 

The Chief Minister, however, said State-level enforcement alone could not eliminate the drug menace. “Karnataka had set up a dedicated Anti-Narcotic Task Force (ANTF) in 2025 to crack down on trafficking networks, but such efforts would have limited impact if drugs continued to enter the country through unsecured borders. A drug-free Bharat is impossible if the national borders remain compromised,” he said”. 

New campus

During the event, Mr. Shivakumar also announced that the institution would be shifted to a new campus in Bengaluru South district.