Addiction a challenge for society, must fight it unitedly: Minister

Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Minister Anirudh Singh today said drug addiction was a challenge for society and all must fight it unitedly.

Speaking at the annual prize distribution ceremony at Government Model Senior Secondary School, Junga, near here, Singh said, “The biggest challenge for society is to save its youth from drugs and this can only be done by keeping the students engaged in sports and other co-curricular activities,” he said.

The minister said fight against drugs was not just the responsibility of police or other law enforcing agencies, but every section of society needed to join hands to combat this menace. “Unless and until we all decide to fight drug menace at every level, it will be difficult to save youth against rising addiction,” he stated.

He said many development activities were undertaken in the Junga region by former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh that were now being taken forward by CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu. “Recently, a college was inaugurated in Koti, which will help youths who cannot afford to leave home for higher education,” he said. The Chief Minister will soon inaugurate the ITI at Junga.

The Minister said, “Our government is undertaking development works without discrimination and forest clearances have been obtained for many roads. Since roads are the lifeline in the hills, the respective panchayats must expedite the grant of NoC for the road construction projects.”

He announced an open gymnasium in the school and directed the department concerned to prepare an estimate at the earliest. “I will take up the issue of construction of a sports hostel in the school with the Chief Minister,” he said.

Taking note of negligence in work undertaken in the Science Block, he said the contractor must be issued a notice.

The Minister announced Rs 1 lakh for the library of Junga panchayat and Rs 3 lakh for repair of the building. He said CCTV cameras will be installed in the school to strengthen security setup. Anirudh Singh announced grant of Rs 75,000 to the school management from discretionary fund. School principal Suman Chandel read the annual report.