Thiruvananthapuram: Taking note of the spurt in drug abuse cases involving school students, Excise Commissioner S Aananthakrishnan has directed officials to monitor youths roaming around school campuses regularly and collect their personal details. The official also asked the department to collect details of the students with whom drug cartels engage in regular contact.
The Excise Department has chalked out plans to raise vigil ahead of school reopening scheduled for next month.
Other measures that are under consideration of the Excise department to check the sale of drugs on school campuses and abuse of drugs among school students are as follows:
• Separate officials will have to be engaged with the task of executing the ‘Vimukthi’ or anti-narcotic initiative in each school.
• A special Parent-Teachers Association meeting by including the autorickshaw and taxi drivers from near each school should be convened.
• Anti-narcotic clubs should be constituted in all schools.
• Inspect all shops that operate in the school neighbourhoods and a recommendation for cancellation of their licence should be given in case of detecting narcotic sales.
• Excise officials should complete visiting all schools by May 30.
• Patrolling in plain clothes and bike patrolling should begin from June 1 onwards.
• Regular inspections should be carried out in June, followed by weekly inspections.
• Special attention should be given to monitoring school premises at least three days a week.
• Officials should visit the area in uniforms itself. Parents should be informed in case the students are found bunking classes and leaving the school premises during working hours.
School-level monitoring committees soon
School-level monitoring committees comprising police, excise, elected representatives, PTA members, and teachers are being constituted to counter the rising drug menace among school students, stated Education Minister V Sivankutty.
A cleaning drive will be launched on all school campuses from May 21 to 27 under the aegis of respective teachers’ associations with the support of volunteers. The minister announced the state-level inauguration of the programme at Government Higher Secondary School, Karamana, on May 21.
Medical camps will be conducted upon the reopening of schools. A district-level meeting of the PTA presidents too will be organized. Steps will be taken to plug the issues relating to internet connectivity in schools.
Plans are also afoot to conduct a file adalat in all education offices during August, September, and October. Stern action will be initiated against the officials who are found sitting on files, the minister warned.