Massive awareness drive against drug abuse in Andhra Pradesh from tomorrow

Vijayawada: Madya Vimochana Prachara Committee (MVPC) is all set to launch a massive awareness campaign against drug abuse across the state on Monday.

The campaign will specifically focus on students and youth. The MVPC campaigns will include Kalajathas (cultural programmes) beginning with colleges.

Committee chairman Vallamreddy Lakshmana Reddy said that Uttar Pradesh and Punjab were the worst affected while Andhra Pradesh was at a distant 18.

He regretted that the opposition parties were spreading fear with false claims that it was on top of a drug racket.

Reddy said that Andhra Pradesh is to destroy ganja crop spread over 45,000 acres in Andhra-Odisha Border. He said that Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy had established a Special Enforcement Bureau (SEB) to curb illegal sand and liquor, ganja and drug activities and SEB is helping in curbing all such illegal activities. He alleged that the Telugu Desam government had failed to curb ganja menace due to the involvement of its own leaders. He explained that the TD government had only registered 579 cases and had arrested 2174 persons, which exposed the inept Chandrababu Naidu administration.

In contrast, the YSRC government has registered 2,040 cases and had arrested 5415 persons from whom they seized 272 tonnes of ganja, he said.

Taking the step forward, the incumbent government has established 15 deaddiction centres in the state where treatment is provided free of cost.

He urged people to lodge complaints on the toll-free 14500 number if they come across illegal liquor activity in their areas.