Shriram shaw
New Delhi:social worker vijay kumar of bihar walking on foot all over India and completed journey of 26 states, 339 days, 16,000 km on foot.His main demand are drug-free and corruption free India and change in the system
26 states, 339 days, 16,000 km on foot: Making wheel turn for a drug-free India
Events in life fail to impart any great sense to many, but some who chastened by experience learn to live rationally and are rewarded with happiness. But, that’s not the case with most of us.
Armed with tremendous nerve, sheer patience, iron determination and robust optimism, 65-year old Vijay Kumar, a social worker from Patna, Bihar is doing what many of his contemporaries can only think of.
He has so far travelled 16,000 km across 26 states and five union territories in 339 days to aware the youth and make this country a drug-free nation. On Friday (30th December), he was in Delhi to pay his obeisance to the Father of the Nation – Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat. Later, in a pragramme at Gandhi Peace Foundation, he was felicitated there. Several dignitaries graced the event.
The man with a mission – Vijay Kumar shared his entire 339 days’ travel experiences of remote areas like Northeast India, and some of the naxal infected areas
He said, “Youth are the future of our country. It must be our collective and utmost duty to save them from the menace of drug-abuse. Governments should chart out a concrete plan to make India ‘drug-free’ and the country’s zero tolerance policy towards narcotics.”
“Drug abuse is a major threat to national security which can only be dealt with through overall coordination – governments and society,” he opined. Terming it a ‘borderless crime’, he stressed on the need for better coordination between drug law enforcement agencies and intelligence agencies and between the Centre and states. “Moreover, society can also play a pivotal role in eradicating this menace. Therefore, I am travelling whole of Hindustan to awaken people particularly youth,” he said
“Every year, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi is observed as the National Anti-Drug Addiction Day to honour his commitment towards eradicating the menace of drug and substance abuse. The government has also time and again highlighted the perils of substance abuse and stated that it is a dangerous disease which traps a person in a never-ending vicious cycle. Unfortunately, this menace is on the rise as is evident from the findings of the ‘National Survey on Extent and Pattern of Substance Use,” Vijay Kumar added.
Kumar further said, “Even after 75 years of Independence, we frequently come across news reports of college students getting addicted to drugs or police nabbing drug peddlers near a school. It is seen that addiction typically starts with alcohol, moves towards nicotine and ganja and then graduates to hard substances like cocaine, MDMA and so on. The situation is grave and demands immediate attention. It is in this spirit that I’ve put in a concerted effort for ‘Nasha Mukt Bharat’ to crush the hydra-headed monster of drug abuse.”