India's response to substance abuse has suffered from fragmentation across Ministries. Examine how the whole-of-government approach in the Vision Document on Narcotic Control: 2026–2029 seeks to address this.

India's response to drugs has run on three separate tracks. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) handles enforcement, MoSJE handles awareness and rehabilitation, and MoHFW handles treatment. The Vision Document on Narcotic Control: 2026–2029, unveiled by the Union Home Minister, seeks to join these tracks. It fixes each Ministry's responsibilities and targets towards a drug-free India by 2029 [1].

How fragmentation weakened the response

• Parallel tracks: MoSJE runs the Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan and free de-addiction centres [2]. MoHFW treats patients separately through the Drug De-Addiction Programme (DDAP) [1].
• Dated baseline: India's only national survey of substance use had its fieldwork in 2018 [2]. No Ministry can measure progress against current data.
• Treatment gap: The Standing Committee on Health (2023) blamed too few professionals, weak infrastructure and stigma [3]. No single Ministry can fix all three.
• Weak oversight: Several States had not set up Mental Health Review Boards under the Mental Healthcare Act, 2017 [3].

How the whole-of-government approach responds

• Defined roles: Each Ministry has set responsibilities and targets, so collective accountability replaces silos [1].
• Measurable health track: MoHFW's Capacity Building Programme (Oct 2026) will train 10,000 service providers by March 2029. Six DDAP institutions will deliver it, with NDDTC, AIIMS as the coordinating centre [1].
• Cross-ministry training: Staff of MoSJE-funded centres are included, along with personnel from the Armed Forces, CAPFs and Railways [1].
• Federal channel: States nominate trainees through the National Health Mission [1], which respects health as a State subject.
• Supply–demand link: The Health Minister stressed that treatment must work alongside prevention, enforcement and border management [1].

Remaining gaps

• The targets count people trained, not patients treated [1].
• Training cannot replace specialists. India has only 0.75 psychiatrists per lakh people [3].

The Vision Document thus turns three separate Ministry efforts into one plan with shared targets. It now needs a joint outcome dashboard and a fresh national survey before 2029. It also needs the Standing Committee's proposals for more MD Psychiatry seats and a tracker for State review boards [3]. Such convergence treats addiction as a health and rights issue, in line with Article 47 and SDG 3.5, and brings Nasha Mukt Bharat within reach.