Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan

Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan (NMBA) is a government campaign that seeks to prevent substance abuse by spreading awareness and mobilising communities. Led by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, it focuses on reducing demand for addictive substances and connecting people who need help with counselling, treatment and rehabilitation services.

Mandate and priority groups

Launched on 15 August 2020, the campaign promotes prevention through public participation rather than relying on enforcement alone. It forms part of the government's wider National Action Plan for Drug Demand Reduction (NAPDDR).

• It seeks to educate people about the harmful consequences of substance use and build community participation in preventing it.
• It gives particular attention to young people, educational institutions, women and communities as important participants in prevention.
• It encourages people affected by substance use to seek assistance and supports their connection with appropriate services.

How the campaign prevents substance abuse

NMBA combines awareness generation with community outreach and capacity building. Its preventive approach seeks to influence behaviour while making information about available help easier to access.

• Activities in schools, colleges and universities help students understand substance-related harms and participate in prevention.
• Community programmes involve volunteers, civil society organisations and local institutions in spreading awareness.
• Training strengthens the ability of volunteers and service providers to identify needs, conduct outreach and guide affected persons towards assistance.
• Outreach links people requiring support with counselling, treatment and rehabilitation, rather than treating awareness as an end in itself.

Place in the wider anti-drug strategy

The campaign's central role is demand reduction: preventing initiation of substance use and encouraging help-seeking. This complements, but does not replace, supply reduction through action against illicit production, trafficking and distribution.

• The wider strategy brings together the Narcotics Control Bureau's supply-control role, the Social Justice Ministry's awareness and demand-reduction work, and the Health Ministry's treatment-related role.
• For internal security, prevention complements action against organised drug networks by addressing the demand that sustains illicit markets.
• The campaign should therefore be understood as a preventive and community-oriented initiative, not as an agency empowered to investigate trafficking or prosecute offenders.