Department of School Education (DoSE) has directed all middle, high and higher secondary schools (both government and private) in the state to constitute ‘Prahari Clubs’, exclusive children’s club for spreading awareness on bad effects of drugs and substance abuse.
The directive is in pursuant to the government directive dated July 3, 2024, and as per the guidelines given under Section 6 of the “Joint Action Plan on Prevention of Drugs and Substance Abuse among Children and Illicit Trafficking” developed by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) and the Narcotics Control Bureau.
As per the directive, the Prahari Clubs could be constituted with 20-25 students selected from classes VI to XIII under the supervision and guidance of a responsible teacher in-charge who was a person of integrity.
The clubs would be given the responsibility of carrying out two suitable activities in a year, and their awareness activities could be integrated with the existing programmes of the Ministry of Education (MoE) and the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW).
Apart from awareness generation, the areas of focus of the clubs would be to sensitise all their members to be vigilant on children taking drugs and substances, or if children were being used for trafficking of drugs and substances, and to be vigilant for any activities or suspected activities of use and sale of drugs and substances in and around the school premises.
Further, members of Prahari Clubs would share any information they get regarding activities or suspected activities related to drugs/substance abuse with the teacher-in-charge who in turn would share it with the school head for appropriate action.
School heads could download a copy of the “Joint Action Plan on Prevention of Drugs and Substance Abuse among Children and Illicit Trafficking” made available at DoSE portal (https://dosenl.in) for ready reference and further necessary action. This was stated in a DIPR press release.