NMBA Reaches Over 35 Crore People, Including Over 13.94 Crore Youth, 10.86 Crore Women, More Than 32 Lakh Educational Institutions Covered Under Outreach Activities

1. At a Glance

• Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan (NMBA) is the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment's (MoSJE) flagship campaign to cut drug demand. It runs under the National Action Plan for Drug Demand Reduction (NAPDDR) [1].
• It covers the demand side of drug control: awareness, prevention, treatment, rehabilitation and aftercare. Enforcement agencies such as the NCB and State ANTFs handle the supply side [1].
• As of 22 Oct 2026 it has reached 35+ crore people, including 13.94 crore youth and 10.86 crore women, and 32 lakh+ educational institutions [1].
• It is relevant to GS-II (welfare schemes, vulnerable sections), GS-III (internal security and narco-terror) and GS-IV (stigma, compassion). It also fits the Whole-of-Government / Whole-of-Society approach [1].

2. Why in the News

• 22 Oct 2026: a PIB release reported NMBA outreach of 35+ crore people, including 13.94 crore youth, 10.86 crore women and 32 lakh+ institutions [1].
• Sept 2026: Union Home Minister Amit Shah spoke at the 3rd National Conference of ANTF Heads of States/UTs in New Delhi. He said India would uproot the drug trade by 31 December 2029, and linked protecting youth to Viksit Bharat @2047 [1].
• Aug 2026: an earlier PIB release put outreach at 29.05 crore people, with a focus on universities, higher educational institutions and schools [4].
• 2026: the PIB announced the NMBA App 2.0 to improve monitoring and institutional coordination under NAPDDR [5].

3. Background & Evolution

• NAPDDR (2018–2025) is MoSJE's plan to reduce the harm caused by drug abuse through several approaches at once. NMBA operates under it [2].
• 15 Aug 2020: NMBA was launched in 272 most vulnerable districts [1][2].

• These districts were picked using NCB inputs and the Ministry's Comprehensive National Survey findings [2].

• 2023: coverage stood at 372 vulnerable districts [3].

• Since Aug 2023: NMBA has been extended to all districts of the country [4]*.
• 18 Jul 2024: MHA/NCB launched the MANAS National Narcotics Helpline (1933) at the 7th NCORD apex meeting. This is the enforcement-side counterpart to NMBA [6].
• 2026: the NMBA App 2.0 was announced [5]. Outreach grew from 29.05 crore (Aug 2026) to 35+ crore (Oct 2026) [4][1].

4. Core Static Facts

Item	Fact
Implementing ministry	Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment (not MHA, not MoHFW) [1]
Parent framework	NAPDDR, 2018–2025 [2]
Launch	15 August 2020 [1]
Initial coverage	272 districts [1]
De-addiction helpline (MoSJE)	14446 [1]
Narcotics reporting helpline (MHA/NCB)	MANAS 1933, launched 18 Jul 2024. Counselling calls are routed to 14446 [6]
Peer volunteers	Nashamukt Mitras, who take awareness to schools and colleges [1]
Components	Prevention, assessment, treatment, rehabilitation, aftercare, public information, community awareness [1]
Portal	nmba.dosje.gov.in [1]
Outreach (Oct 2026)	35+ crore people; 13.94 crore youth; 10.86 crore women; 32 lakh+ institutions [1]
Enforcement law	NDPS Act, 1985 [6]
National drug-trade target	Drug trade to be uprooted by 31 Dec 2029 [1]

5. Multi-Dimensional Analysis

Social

• Youth are central to the strategy. Of the 35 crore people reached, about 13.94 crore are youth [1].
• Women are reached through women's groups. Globally, only 1 in 23 women with drug-use disorders gets treatment, against 1 in 9 men. That gap is the case for outreach aimed at women [7].
• The campaign tries to reduce stigma so that families seek help earlier and recovering users can rejoin society with dignity [1].

Governance / Administrative

• The work is split between ministries:
• MoSJE (NMBA) handles demand reduction.

• MHA (NCB, ANTFs, NCORD, MANAS) handles supply reduction [1][6].

• Coverage was scaled up step by step: 272 districts, then 372, then all districts [1][3][4].

• Monitoring is going digital through the NMBA App 2.0 [5].
• Outreach numbers measure activities, not outcomes. The release gives no data on falling prevalence or on treatment completion [1].

Security / Strategic

• Drug money funds organised crime. The 2029 target sets a deadline for dismantling drug networks [1].
• Citizen tip-offs through MANAS feed the NCB and ANTFs [6].

Legal / Constitutional

• Enforcement runs under the NDPS Act, 1985, while NMBA is an executive welfare measure [6][1].

Ethical (GS-IV)

• The campaign treats addiction as a health and social problem, not only a crime, and asks for compassionate attitudes towards affected people [1].

International

• The UN World Drug Report 2026 found global drug use at a record high, driven by stronger synthetic drugs [7].
• 292 million people used drugs in 2022 [8].
• 26 June is the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking [9].

6. Recent Developments (last 12–18 months)

• 2026: NMBA App 2.0 announced for monitoring and coordination [5].
• Jun 2026: UN World Drug Report 2026 records global drug use at a new high [7].
• Aug 2026: outreach reaches 29.05 crore people, with a focus on higher educational institutions and schools [4].
• Sept 2026: 3rd National Conference of ANTF Heads sets the 31 Dec 2029 target [1].
• 22 Oct 2026: outreach passes 35 crore people and 32 lakh+ institutions [1].

7. Prelims Hooks

• NMBA was launched on 15 August 2020 [1].
• NMBA is implemented by the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment [1].
• NMBA runs under the National Action Plan for Drug Demand Reduction (NAPDDR) [1].
• NAPDDR covered the period 2018–2025 [2].
• NMBA started in 272 districts [1].
• Districts were chosen using NCB inputs and the Comprehensive National Survey [2].
• The national de-addiction helpline is 14446 (MoSJE) [1].
• MANAS helpline 1933 (MHA/NCB) was launched on 18 July 2024 at the 7th NCORD meeting [6].
• Nashamukt Mitras are peer volunteers for awareness work in schools and colleges [1].
• As of Oct 2026, NMBA outreach covers 35+ crore people: 13.94 crore youth and 10.86 crore women [1].
• The target for uprooting the drug trade is 31 December 2029, announced at the 3rd ANTF Heads Conference [1].
• The International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking is on 26 June. The UNODC World Drug Report is launched the same day [9].

8. 35 Crore Reached, but Only a Few Lakh Treated

• Hearing a message is not the same as getting treatment
• In 2024-25, about 6.47 lakh people used government-supported treatment and rehabilitation centres under NAPDDR (as of 19 Mar 2025) [10].
• In 2023-24 the number was 5.81 lakh [10].

• Compare this with 35+ crore people reached by awareness work [1]. Very few of the people reached go on to receive care.

• The need is far bigger than the care on offer

• The national survey estimated 2.26 crore opioid users and 3.1 crore cannabis users [13].
• Suppose every person treated in 2024-25 was an opioid user. That would still be under 3 in every 100 opioid users.

• So the bottleneck is the number of treatment places, not awareness.

• The treatment network is thin for a country this size

• A Lok Sabha reply listed 344 IRCAs (Integrated Rehabilitation Centres for Addicts), 145 District De-Addiction Centres, 155 Addiction Treatment Facilities and 76 ODICs (drop-in centres where users can walk in for help) [11].
• That works out to about one District De-Addiction Centre for every five districts, while NMBA now covers all districts [4].

• When awareness grows but beds do not, a family that finally asks for help may find no centre nearby.

• Government evaluations check capacity, not recovery

• Third-party evaluations by Development & Research Services (Dec 2024) and NITI Aayog (2025) found progress in institutional capacity [11].
• Capacity means centres and staff. It does not tell us how many people stopped using drugs or stayed off them.

9. India Is Still Working From a 2018 Drug Map

• The only full national count is now eight years old
• NDDTC, AIIMS (the national drug treatment centre at AIIMS, New Delhi) gave its report Magnitude of Substance Use in India to MoSJE in February 2019 [12].
• The survey covered about 4.73 lakh people in households, plus 70,293 people who depend on illegal drugs [12].

• The UN says synthetic drugs are now stronger and use is at a record high [7]. A 2018 survey cannot show these newer patterns in India.

• Without a new survey, success cannot be proved

• The 2029 goal and the 35 crore figure have no fresh baseline (a starting number to compare against).

• Nobody can say whether drug use in the 272 first-phase districts has gone down since 2020.

• The plan's own term has run out

• NAPDDR was written for 2018–2025 [2].
• As late as Dec 2025, the Rajya Sabha was still asking about the status of NAPDDR's restructuring and about certification of de-addiction centres [14].
• NMBA now runs at its largest scale ever while its parent plan waits to be renewed.

10. A Health Problem in Speeches, a Crime in Law

• The campaign and the law send opposite messages
• NMBA asks people to see addiction with compassion, as a health problem [1].
• But Section 27 of the NDPS Act still makes consumption of a drug a criminal offence [15].

• A young user may fear arrest more than they want help. That fear keeps people away from 14446 and from treatment centres.

• The law has a treatment route, but it comes with conditions

• Section 64A protects an addict from prosecution under Section 27, or for small-quantity offences, if they volunteer for treatment [15].
• This protection can be taken back if the person does not complete treatment [15].

• Relapse (going back to drugs after stopping) is common in addiction. So the person most likely to slip is the one most at risk of being prosecuted again.

• The strongest case for keeping Section 27

• When Parliament's Standing Committee on Finance examined an NDPS amendment in 2011-12, it rejected an NGO's demand to delete Section 27 [16].

• The argument: the threat of a criminal case discourages first use and pushes users towards treatment through Section 64A.

• What is right about it, and what is not

• Fair point: a legal threat does help bring some users to treatment, and it signals that society disapproves.
• The problem: the threat only works if a treatment place exists. With fewer than 7 lakh people treated a year [10], the law punishes people the system cannot yet treat.
• The real debate is not jail versus freedom. It is whether a first-time user meets a police officer or a health worker first.

11. What Portugal Did Differently

• Portugal stopped treating personal drug use as a crime
• Since its 2001 reform, possessing drugs for personal use is an administrative violation (handled like a civil offence, not a crime) [17].

• Cases go to local panels of legal, health and social-work experts, not to criminal courts [17].

• It paired the law change with much more treatment

• A UN Human Rights Council document reports lower drug use, less drug use among adolescents, and fewer HIV infections and overdoses among people who inject drugs [17].

• The lesson for India is the order, not copying the law

• Portugal grew its treatment services alongside the legal change [17].
• India has scaled up awareness first. Treatment numbers are still small [10], and the criminal rule in Section 27 is unchanged [15].

12. What Should Happen Next, and Who Should Do It

• MoSJE should order a repeat of the AIIMS national survey
• Use the same method as the 2018 NDDTC survey so the two results can be compared directly [12].

• Only then can the 2029 goal and the 35 crore outreach be judged by results, not by activity.

• MoSJE should launch NAPDDR's successor with outcome targets

• The 2018–2025 plan has ended [2], and its restructuring was still pending in Parliament in Dec 2025 [14].

• The new plan should track treatment completion, relapse after one year and the number of new young users, not just people reached.

• MoSJE should grow treatment places as fast as outreach

• Link NMBA district targets to District De-Addiction Centre capacity [11], so that every district reached has somewhere to send people.

• Make certification of private de-addiction centres compulsory, an issue already raised in the Rajya Sabha [14].

• MHA and Parliament should review Sections 27 and 64A

• Make Section 64A protection harder to lose after a relapse [15].

• Study Portugal's expert panels as a way to send first-time users to health services rather than courts [17].

• Bring the three helplines together

• 14446 is already linked with the Health Ministry's Tele MANAS (mental-health helpline) [10], and MANAS 1933 routes counselling calls to 14446 [6].
• A single number would remove the confusion between reporting a crime and asking for help.

13. Anchors for Answers

• Data: 2.26 crore opioid users and 3.1 crore cannabis users in India, from the national survey [13]
• Data: 6.47 lakh people treated at supported centres in 2024-25 (as of Mar 2025), compared with 35+ crore reached by outreach [10][1]
• Data: 344 IRCAs and 145 District De-Addiction Centres nationwide [11]
• Report/Committee: NDDTC-AIIMS, Magnitude of Substance Use in India (2019) [12]; Standing Committee on Finance report on the NDPS (Amendment) Bill (2011-12), which kept Section 27 [16]; NITI Aayog evaluation of NAPDDR (2025) [11]
• Law/Case: NDPS Act, 1985: Section 27 (consumption is a crime) and Section 64A (protection from prosecution for addicts who seek treatment) [15]
• Comparison: Portugal (2001) made personal possession an administrative violation, sent cases to health-and-legal panels and expanded treatment. A UN document reports lower use, HIV and overdoses [17]
• Scheme: Tele MANAS, now linked with the 14446 de-addiction helpline, connects drug demand reduction with mental-health care [10]

14. Mains Relevance

• GS-II: welfare schemes for vulnerable sections; health; government policies and interventions.
• GS-III: internal security, including organised crime and links between drug trafficking and terrorism.
• GS-IV: compassion, attitudes and the ethics of public policy.
• Possible questions: 1. "Drug abuse in India calls for a balance between supply suppression and demand reduction." Evaluate the Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan in this light. 2. Large outreach numbers do not by themselves show policy success. Suggest outcome indicators for India's drug demand-reduction framework. 3. Discuss the role of de-stigmatisation and community participation in tackling substance-use disorders among youth.

15. Related Topics to Study Next

• NDPS Act, 1985 and its amendments: the legal base for enforcement.
• NCORD mechanism and NCB: how supply-side coordination works.
• MANAS helpline 1933 vs 14446: the difference between reporting and counselling.
• Golden Crescent and Golden Triangle: geography of the routes feeding drugs into India.
• UNODC World Drug Report: global trends in drug use.
• Narco-terrorism in Punjab and the North-East: where drugs and internal security meet.
• Mental Healthcare Act, 2017: treating addiction as a mental-health condition.

16. NCERT Concepts to Revise

• Demand (Economy): NMBA targets drug demand reduction, the core idea behind awareness, treatment and prevention, as opposed to supply control.
• Supply (Economy): Enforcement by NCB and ANTFs handles the supply side; the note balances this against demand reduction.
• Social justice (Polity): NMBA is a MoSJE welfare scheme for vulnerable sections, which links it to social justice.
• Mental Healthcare Act 2017 (Polity): The note treats addiction as a health condition and lists this Act as a related topic.
• Standing committee (Polity): The Standing Committee on Finance rejected deleting Section 27 of the NDPS Act, a point used in the note's argument.

17. Common Errors / Trap Areas

• Ministry: NMBA belongs to MoSJE, not MHA. The 2029 target was announced by the Home Minister, which causes confusion [1].
• Helplines: 14446 is MoSJE's de-addiction line. 1933 is MANAS, run by MHA/NCB [1][6].
• District count: it was 272 at launch, 372 by 2023, and all districts since Aug 2023 [1][3][4].
• Launch year: NMBA began in 2020, while NAPDDR began in 2018 [1][2].
• Outreach figures: 29.05 crore was the Aug 2026 figure and 35 crore is the Oct 2026 figure [4][1].