Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu has formally launched a massive public campaign against the drug menace known as ‘chitta’ (adulterated heroin) in Himachal Pradesh. The launch was marked by the ‘Chitta-Virodh’ (Oppose Heroin) awareness walkathon in Shimla on Saturday, which saw thousands of people—including children, officials, and public representatives—participate.

CM Sukhu declared that the initiative is not just a government program but a “people’s movement” aimed at making Himachal ‘Chitta-free.’

The Three-Pronged Strategy Against ‘Chitta’

The state government’s campaign is focused on a comprehensive strategy built on three main parameters to combat drug abuse, which Sukhu described as “silently harming our culture, our values, and the future of our children”:

1. Awareness Campaigns:
   • Goal: To educate the public against the dangers of drug abuse.
   • Call to Action: The CM appealed to women (especially mothers) to steer the movement and urged religious institutions to lend their voice against the evil.
2. Strict Enforcement and Law Action:
   • Goal: To stop youth from slipping into addiction by taking strict action against the drug mafia.
   • Zero-Tolerance Policy: The government has adopted a zero-tolerance stance, warning that “no one involved in this trade will be spared, no matter how influential they may be.”
   • Strengthening Laws: The government has already implemented the Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (PIT-NDPS) Act to ensure repeat drug trafficking offenders are sent to jail. New laws have been passed with provisions including the death penalty, life imprisonment, fines up to ₹10 lakh, and the seizure of property belonging to drug traffickers.
   • Ground-Level Intelligence: Police have been instructed to identify drug users and mafias at the panchayat level.
3. Rehabilitation and Support:
   • Goal: To treat and rehabilitate youths afflicted with addiction.
   • View of Addicts: Sukhu stressed that addicted individuals “were not criminals,” but needed treatment, care, and support. A Drug Prevention and Rehabilitation Board has been formed to spearhead these efforts.

Community Engagement Initiatives

To ensure the campaign succeeds at the grassroots level, the government is setting up new community structures:

• Anti-Chitta Volunteers: The government will soon form a team of 1,000 Anti-Chitta Volunteers who will act as a crucial link between the police and the public.
• Education: A new chapter on drug awareness will be added to the school curriculum.
• Interaction: Post-walkathon, the Chief Minister personally interacted with students, participants, and parents who had lost children to drugs, offering them support.

CM Sukhu emphasized that public participation is vital to ensure that “drug traffickers find no safe harbour” and that the movement must eventually “echo not only across the mountains of the state but throughout the nation.”