After the anti-drug campaign in Ambedkar University, we trace the origins of a similar campaign in the University of Delhi (DU), through the lens of the Leaders For Tomorrow (LFT) organisation.
A couple of days ago, the Social Welfare Department of the government of Delhi launched an anti-drug program, named ‘Khwahishen Udaan Ki’, at Ambedkar University. Having boarded the same train of thought, the colleges of DU, in collaboration with the Leaders For Tomorrow (LFT) – a non-profit youth organization – have carried out campaigns pertaining to drug abuse as well as ragging.
The Anti-Drug and Anti Ragging (ADAR) campaign has been carried out in several DU colleges. With the University welcoming several outstation students every year, it becomes imperative to talk about these issues on an individual level. Problems usually germinate and cultivate themselves through the irrigation of peer pressure, as has been witnessed in most of the cases. The ADAR is specifically oriented towards the freshers and making them aware of the menace that occasionally tends to take a toll on the campus. The necessary measures to be taken and the need to make them feel the presence of a helping hand are some of the other areas which ADAR focuses upon.
While the presence of the LFT is quite evident, it is important to note that it is independent of college societies and holds campaigns in campuses all across the country. Although the menace of ragging has taken a back seat in recent years, considering the legal action taken in the form of the anti-ragging forms collected from students during admissions every year, the problem of drug and substance abuse still persists. Rohit Tomar, a third year B.Com (Programme) student of Aryabhatta College, who is a member of the LFT as well, feels that “[t]he University can keep a check on substance abuse by restricting the sale of drugs to a particular area outside the campus, say 1 kilometre away”.
In Sri Venkateswara College, all the students who registered with ADAR pledged to fight against the looming menace in campus. Jatin Swami, a third year student having pledged for the same, and the former head of LFT in the institution, shares: “Since the programme is centric to the freshers, there is the development of a sense of safety as well as the courage to come up and report cases, which becomes impossible otherwise, due to the communication gap”. He further adds, “The environment of a college is decided by its authorities. Just filling forms never helps”.
There are Anti-Ragging Committees present in most of the colleges with the college authorities having an upper-hand. They are responsible for taking action if the situation demands it.
Being a youth organization, they have an all-encompassing hand that overarches other issues, including a plantation drive (Adopt A Plant-ADAPT), cleanliness drive, collection drive, Visits for Compassion and other red-letter day events, all pertaining to particular social issues, in order to make the youth aware of the menace in our society, and how to tackle it. Their efforts prove that after all, as Mahatma Gandhi once said, “You must be the change you wish to see in the world”.
Feature Image Credit: The Millenium Post
Shrija Ganguly
