"Anti-doping in India has shifted from enforcement to prevention." Examine this in light of the National Anti-Doping Act and the recent India–UNESCO toolkit MoU.

India's anti-doping record has long been poor. In WADA's 2019 data, India had about 17% of global anti-doping rule violations, behind only Russia and Italy [4]. The National Anti-Doping Act and the 2026 India–UNESCO toolkit MoU show a clear turn towards prevention. However, this turn adds to enforcement rather than replacing it.

Enforcement: the statutory backbone

• The National Anti-Doping Act, 2022 gives effect to the UNESCO Convention against Doping in Sport and makes NADA a statutory body [3].
• The 2025 Amendment gives NADA's Director General operational independence. It also lets the Centre form the Appeal Panel and limits CAS appeals to bodies such as WADA, IOC and IPC [3].
• NADA conducted over 7,000 tests in 2025–26. The Act came into force in 2026, and provisions to criminalise doping-related activities are being prepared [1].

Prevention: the emerging emphasis

• The MYAS–MoE–UNESCO MoU takes respect, integrity and fairness into schools through the "Sports Values in Every Classroom Toolkit". Its video modules are in 13 Indian languages, and teachers deliver them [1].
• It builds on the 2023 NADA–NCERT MoU, which carried fair-play e-content through PM e-Vidya [2].
• Supplement testing at NFSU Gandhinagar and NIPER Hyderabad targets inadvertent doping. NADA's 350+ awareness sessions reached 27,000 participants [1].
• NADA now follows a four-pronged approach: education, prevention, testing and enforcement [1].

Assessment: how far has the shift gone?

• Partial shift: the criminalisation plan shows that punitive tools are growing alongside education [1].
• Target mismatch: the toolkit reaches schoolchildren, but today's violations come from competitive athletes.
• Protection gaps: the Parliamentary Standing Committee (2022) asked for different treatment of minors and adults, proportional penalties, 'dope-free' supplement certification and more testing labs [5].
• Unmeasured outcomes: there is no public data on how widely the 2023 e-content was used or what students learnt from it.
• Federal limits: school education is on the Concurrent List, so roll-out depends on states.

India has therefore added a values-based preventive layer to a stronger statutory enforcement core. Three steps would make prevention credible: measure learning outcomes, adopt the Standing Committee's recommendations on supplements and minors, and aim criminal law at suppliers rather than unknowing athletes. Together they would build a culture of clean sport, in line with the spirit of the UNESCO Convention.