VOCIFEROUSLY ADVOCATED NEED FOR COHESIVE EFFORTS OF FAMILY, SOCIETY & GOVT. IN THE WAR AGAINST DRUGS.
Batala April 18: The Quit and Kick movement aimed at making Punjab drugs free reaches Batala after having worked extensively at Chandigarh, Pathankot, Nawanshahar, Amritsar and Hoshiarpur.
A special awareness seminar was organized at R.D.Khosla DAV Model Senior Secondary School, Ram Tirath Road Batala wherein luminaries from social, academic and political field shared their views including Union State Minister Mr. Vijay Sampla, Rajya Sabha Member Mr. Avinash Rai Khana and Assistant Media Advisor to Govt. of Punjab Mr. Vineet Joshi. The programme was organized by Chairman of R.D.Khosla School Mr. Ajay Khosla and was supported by Mr. Ranjan Malhotra of Batala Chapter of Joshi Foundation.
Mr. Vineet Joshi at the outset briefed about the 3 pronged strategy of Joshi Foundation in context of making Punjab drugs free. He said that the foundation aimed at generating awareness amongst youth regarding the ill impacts of drugs, works to sensitize and put the parents on guard against drugs along with mobilizing the opinion builders in context of need for de-addiction. He said that awareness generation is the pivotal concept around which the efforts of Joshi Foundation revolved. Joshi Foundation has held round table conferences, organized anti drug march, and mass pledge programmes as well as seminars to generate awareness against drugs. He said that cohesive efforts of family society and government will put us in a win-win situation against drugs. He voiced concern over the threat posed by synthetic drugs in Punjab. He voiced the ways and methods of detecting addiction symptoms in children and cautioned the parents so as to nip the evil in the bud.
Mr. Avinash Rai Khanna advised one and all to change their outlook towards addicts and addiction. He said that addiction should be considered as any other disease rather than a stigma and likewise its treatment should be looked into. He said that parents hiding their child’s addiction do more wrong to the child than the drugs. Their positive attitude and support will go a long way to cull their children out of the clutches of addiction. “Devote quality time to kids” was the mool mantra he gave to all present so as to keep their children away from drugs and added that children should be allowed to mingle more in real world rather than “reel world”; “keep children at length from the whimsical artificial society created by Television”, cautioned he. He exhorted them to make their children feel that they are an asset for the family, society and the country so that they realized their worth before giving up to allurement of drugs.
Mr. Vijay Sampla said that it is ironical that despite the over concern of parents towards their children, the children are falling in the trap of drugs. The image of Punjab as a land of mighty soldiers and warriors is some what fading away under the clouds of drugs. It is high time that every person puts in his bit to save the future generation of the country. He said that we through foundation are trying to reach different community. We are interacting with religious leaders, doctors, school teachers and scholars to find a way out of this dilemma. We intend even meeting the writers and singers so that they may generate awareness through their work. He said that healthy thought are born out of healthy body and thereby form a healthy nation so hopefully everybody will join this initiative against drugs and put an end to this problem.
During the programme students from Batala presented skit, songs and poems to highlight the impact of drugs on youth.
Those present on the occasion included Mr. Viney Sunder, Naresh Mahajan, Ram Lakha, Rajat Singh, Suresh Bhatia, Arun Aggarwal, Pankaj Mahajan, J.N.Sharma, Sandeep Malhotra, Rajiv Malhotra, Munish Mahajan, Anil Dogra, Kishan Ral gupta, Viney Mahajan, Manoharlal Sharma, Vijay Sharma, Vivek Modgil and Rakesh Bhatia.
