Ride Against Drugs

• 1,000-km-long Motorcycle Rally flagged off from   Bandipur; to culminate at Bidar tomorrow
• A joint initiative of Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, DYES and Forest Dept.

Chamarajanagar: A motorcycle rally (jatha), with a message ‘Say no to drugs,’ was flagged off yesterday at Bandipur in Gundlupet taluk of the district. The rally will cover a distance of 1,000-km till it concludes on Aug. 31 at Bidar.

DCF (Bandipur) and Director of Bandipur Tiger Reserve, S. Prabhakaran, flagged off the rally near Safari Centre at the entrance of Bandipur Tiger Reserve. Highlight of the rally is the participation of Nandini Mithun, who has achieved in cycling by pedalling a distance of over 1 lakh kms across the country.

The campaign, taken up under the Union Government’s initiative through the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, Department of Youth Empowerment and Sports (DYES) and Forest Department, is first of its kind under the banner ‘Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan 2025’ (Drug-free India).

As many as 20 riders, selected through a public voting, rode through Mysuru yesterday. They were received at the Outer Ring Road (ORR) junction near APMC at Bandipalya.

DYES Asst. Director Bhaskar Nayak administered the oath against drugs among the gathering, National Service Scheme (NSS) volunteers & students.

State NSS Officer Dr. Prathap Lingaiah, University of Mysore NSS Officer Dr. Ningaraju, Maharaja’s College NSS Officer Dr. Madhusudhan, Progarmme Coordinator Dr. Sunil, NSS volunteers of Christ First Grade College and JSS First Grade College were present. The rally will pass through Mandya, Ramanagar, Bengaluru, Tumakuru, Chitradurga, Hampi and several other places, before culminating at Bidar. They will stop at schools and colleges, where awareness programmes, seminars and talks will be organised, stated Principal Secretary to DYES Naveen Raj Singh.

The rally is organised in association with NSS, National Cadet Corps (NCC) and My Bharat volunteers, who in each city will join the campaign by forming human chains at popular junctions, distributing pamphlets and participating in discussions on the dangers of drug abuse and liquor.

The rally has been conceptualised by Naveen Raj Singh, along with Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (APCCF) Manojkumar, also the Secretary of Forest Department, Chief Conservator of Forest (CCF – Development) R. Ravishankar, Personal Secretary to Housing, Wakf and Minority Welfare Minister Sarfaraz Khan and other senior officers.