Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan Reaches Over 35.88 Crore People; Over 14.35 Crore Youth, 11.33 Crore Women Reached Through Nationwide Awareness Campaign

1. At a Glance

• NMBA is a nationwide campaign of Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MoSJE) against substance abuse. It works through awareness and community mobilisation, and it was launched on 15 August 2020 [1][3].
• It is the flagship awareness arm of the National Action Plan for Drug Demand Reduction (NAPDDR). NAPDDR covers prevention, treatment and rehabilitation, so it is a demand-reduction approach rather than a supply-control one [1].
• It treats substance dependence as a psycho-social and medical challenge for individuals, families and communities, not merely a law-and-order issue [1].
• UPSC relevance: GS-II (welfare schemes, vulnerable sections, health), GS-III (drug trafficking as an internal security issue) and GS-IV (ethics of addiction and stigma). It is also good for questions on how a "Jan Andolan" (people's movement) governance model works.

2. Why in the News

• A PIB release giving figures as on 12 November 2026, six years after launch, says NMBA has reached 35.88 crore people. This includes over 14.35 crore youth and 11.33 crore women [1].
• The release says the campaign has moved from an institution-driven initiative to a community-led movement. States, districts, educational institutions, civil society and local stakeholders all contribute [1].
• The number of persons seeking treatment and counselling rose from 2.08 lakh (2020-21) to over 9.11 lakh (2025-26) [1].

3. Background & Evolution

• Evidence base: The first National Survey on the Extent and Pattern of Substance Use in India (2018) measured the scale of the problem. It justified a comprehensive, sustained response [1].
• Legal predecessor: Section 71 of the NDPS Act, 1985 (Act No. 61 of 1985) empowers the Government to set up centres for the identification and treatment of addicts and to make rules for running them [4].
• Milestones:
• 15 Aug 2020: NMBA launched in 272 districts identified as particularly vulnerable to substance use [1][3].
• 2021: about 1.4 crore people reached [1].
• Aug 2022: expanded to 372 districts [1].
• 15 Aug 2023: extended to all districts [1].
• Feb 2024: MoSJE reported the Navchetna modules. These are teacher-training modules to sensitise students of Classes 6 to 11, teachers and parents on drug dependence [2].

• 12 Nov 2026: cumulative reach of 35.88 crore [1].

• Design logic: coverage started with the districts most at risk and then became universal [1].

4. Core Static Facts

Item	Fact
Nodal ministry	Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment [1]
Parent framework	NAPDDR, which covers prevention, treatment and rehabilitation [1]
Launch	15 August 2020 [1][3]
Initial coverage	272 vulnerable districts [1]
Expansion	372 districts (Aug 2022), then all districts (15 Aug 2023) [1]
Total reach (12 Nov 2026)	35.88 crore people [1]
Youth reached	14.35 crore+ [1]
Women reached	11.33 crore [1]
Volunteer component	Nasha Mukti Mitr: citizen volunteers who spread awareness, encourage people to seek help and support drug-free communities [1]
Treatment infrastructure	198 District De-Addiction Centres (DDACs) as on date [1]
Treatment seekers	2.08 lakh (2020-21) rising to 9.11 lakh+ (2025-26) [1]
School module	Navchetna, for Classes 6 to 11 plus teachers and parents [2]
2018 survey burden	7 crore+ people affected by substance use disorders, including about 1.2 crore children and 58 lakh women [1]
Statutory hook	NDPS Act, 1985, Section 71: Government power to set up centres to identify and treat addicts [4]

Key terms

• Demand reduction: lowering how much people want drugs, through prevention, treatment and rehabilitation [1].
• Supply reduction: enforcement and interdiction. This is not NMBA's mandate.
• Substance use disorder (SUD): the clinical condition that the treatment services under NAPDDR address [1].

5. Multi-Dimensional Analysis

Social

• The campaign targets youth (14.35 crore) and women (11.33 crore) directly [1].
• The 2018 survey's figure of about 1.2 crore affected children makes this a child-protection concern as well [1].
• Work in schools and colleges, including Navchetna, focuses on prevention at the age when people usually start using substances [1][2].
• Treating addiction as a psycho-social condition reduces stigma, which is a known barrier to seeking treatment [1].

Governance / Administrative

• It is an example of a Jan Andolan model: a volunteer network (Nasha Mukti Mitr) works alongside the State, district and civil-society machinery [1].
• Coverage was phased by vulnerability (272 → 372 → all districts), which allowed resources to be prioritised before going national [1].
• Bottleneck: there are 198 DDACs for a 2018 burden of 7 crore+ affected people, and districts number in the hundreds. Treatment capacity has not kept pace with awareness reach [1].

Health / Scientific

• Rising treatment-seeking (2.08 lakh to 9.11 lakh+) suggests that awareness is turning into demand for services [1].
• The emphasis is on timely intervention and sustained rehabilitation, in line with the medical view of addiction [1].

Legal / Constitutional

• Section 71 of the NDPS Act places the State's responsibility for treating addicts within the drug-control law [4].
• The demand-side policy (MoSJE) works alongside the NDPS Act's enforcement provisions. This creates a health-versus-criminalisation tension: the user is treated as a patient by MoSJE and as an offender under the penal provisions.
• Not checked in this session: Article 47 (Directive Principles) directs the State to bring about prohibition of intoxicating drinks and drugs injurious to health, except for medicinal purposes.

Ethical (GS-IV)

• The "nasha mukt" (drug-free) goal requires community empathy over moral condemnation. Volunteers (Nasha Mukti Mitr) are an example of civic virtue in action [1].
• Ethical question: where is the line between awareness that respects people and moral policing?

Security (link)

• Lower demand reduces the market for trafficking networks, which complements enforcement. The supply side sits with security and enforcement agencies, not MoSJE [1].

6. Recent Developments (last 12-18 months)

• May 2025: PIB published a fact document recording NMBA milestones, with launch on 15 Aug 2020 by MoSJE [3].
• 2025-26: treatment and counselling seekers crossed 9.11 lakh [1].
• 12 Nov 2026: reach of 35.88 crore, including 14.35 crore youth and 11.33 crore women; 198 DDACs were operational [1].
• Nov 2026: NMBA completed six years since launch and was described as a community-led people's movement [1].

7. Prelims Hooks

• NMBA was launched on 15 August 2020 by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, not MHA or MoHFW [1][3].
• It began in 272 districts identified as most vulnerable [1].
• It expanded to 372 districts in August 2022 [1].
• It was extended to all districts from 15 August 2023 [1].
• NMBA is the flagship awareness initiative under NAPDDR [1].
• NAPDDR rests on three pillars: prevention, treatment and rehabilitation [1].
• Cumulative reach as on 12 Nov 2026 was 35.88 crore, up from about 1.4 crore in 2021 [1].
• Youth reached: over 14.35 crore. Women reached: 11.33 crore [1].
• Nasha Mukti Mitr is NMBA's citizen-volunteer component [1].
• There are 198 District De-Addiction Centres [1].
• The first National Survey on Extent and Pattern of Substance Use was conducted in 2018 [1].
• The 2018 survey found 7 crore+ people with SUDs, including about 1.2 crore children and 58 lakh women [1].
• Navchetna modules sensitise Classes 6 to 11 students, teachers and parents [2].
• Section 71 of the NDPS Act, 1985 gives the Government power to set up centres for identifying and treating addicts [4].

8. What '35.88 Crore Reached' Does Not Tell You

• The headline counts contacts, not change
• 35.88 crore is the number of people the campaign reached [1]. It counts rallies, pledges and school sessions. It is an output (work done), not an outcome (result achieved).
• It does not say how many people stopped using drugs, or never started.

• One person reached at a school event and again at a district rally may be counted twice. The release does not say whether it counts each person once.

• India has no fresh data on drug use to check the campaign against

• The only national count of drug use is the 2018 survey: 7 crore+ people with SUDs [1].
• By November 2026 that data is eight years old. So nobody can say whether drug use has gone up or down since NMBA began.

• The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Social Justice and Empowerment (51st Report, August 2023) asked for periodic surveys. It also asked for an impact assessment (a study that checks whether a scheme actually worked) of NAPDDR [7].

• The best real signal is treatment-seeking, and it is still small

• People seeking treatment rose about four times, from 2.08 lakh (2020-21) to 9.11 lakh+ (2025-26) [1]. This is a real change in behaviour, not just a contact.
• But 9.11 lakh against 7 crore+ affected people is about 1 in 75 in a year [1].
• So awareness is turning into action, but only for a small share of those who need help.

9. Why Awareness Runs Ahead of Treatment

• The campaign creates demand that the system cannot yet meet
• NMBA covers all districts since August 2023 [1]. But there are only 198 District De-Addiction Centres (DDACs) [1].
• A PIB fact document counts 730+ free centres across all NAPDDR facility types, and 27.76 lakh people treated in total [3].

• Even that total is only about 4% of the 7 crore+ burden found in 2018 [1][3].

• Why this gap is dangerous, not just slow

• A person who finally decides to seek help often has to travel far to reach a centre, or has to wait.
• Many drop out at this point. The campaign then loses trust in the same community it worked to persuade.

• Awareness costs little and can grow fast. A treatment centre needs doctors, counsellors and beds, so it grows slowly. That is why reach grows faster than treatment.

• Parliament has already flagged slow spending

• The 2023 Standing Committee report asked the Department to speed up the release and use of funds so they produce results [7].

10. A Patient for One Ministry, an Offender for Another

• The law still punishes the person NMBA calls a patient
• Under Section 27 of the NDPS Act, using a narcotic drug is itself a crime. It carries a jail term or a fine [4].

• NMBA says addiction is a psycho-social and medical problem, not merely a law-and-order issue [1]. The law has not fully followed that view.

• Fear of arrest keeps people away from treatment

• A user who comes forward is admitting to a crime under Section 27.

• Families also hide addiction to protect the person from police and from shame. This hits women and children hardest, because they already find it hard to seek help.

• The law already has a door, but it is narrow

• Section 64A gives immunity from prosecution (protection from being taken to court) to an addict who volunteers for de-addiction treatment and completes it [4].
• Section 39 lets a court send a convicted addict for treatment instead of jail [4].

• Both protect the user only after the person is caught or comes forward. They do not remove the fear that stops people from coming forward in the first place.

• The international view has moved towards treatment

• The UN Secretary-General's message on the International Day against Drug Abuse calls for rehabilitation rather than punishment and imprisonment for minor drug offences [8].
• India's NMBA message matches this. India's penal law (the part that sets punishments) does not yet match it.

11. The Strongest Case Against NMBA, and Where It Falls Short

• The objection: NMBA is a publicity campaign, not a health programme
• It measures success in crores of people reached, not in fewer people using drugs [1].
• It has grown to all districts while treatment centres stayed few [1].

• No independent survey since 2018 shows that drug use has fallen [1][7].

• What the critic gets right

• Reach numbers do not prove impact. Parliament itself asked for an impact assessment [7].

• Treatment capacity is the weak link, as the centre count shows [1][3].

• Where the critic goes too far

• Treatment-seeking rose about four times in five years [1]. Publicity alone does not make people walk into a clinic.
• Stigma (shame and blame) is a known barrier to seeking treatment. Reducing it is a necessary first step, and awareness campaigns are the tool for that.
• Fair verdict: NMBA has done the cheap, fast part well. It now needs the slow, costly parts: centres, counsellors and data.

12. Four Fixes, and Who Must Make Them

• MoSJE should run a new national survey on drug use, and repeat it on a fixed schedule
• Without a 2026 count, the 2018 baseline cannot be compared with anything [1].

• The 2023 Standing Committee asked for periodic surveys [7].

• MoSJE should measure outcomes, not just reach

• Report how many people reached were referred to a centre, how many completed treatment, and how many relapsed (started using again).

• This is the impact assessment the Standing Committee asked for [7].

• MoSJE and States should put DDACs in districts that NMBA covers but that have no treatment centre

• Today 198 DDACs serve a campaign that runs in every district [1].

• The Union Government should make the treatment route in the NDPS Act easier to use

• Use Section 64A more widely, so that a user who seeks help is not treated as a criminal [4].

• This matches the UN call for rehabilitation over punishment for minor offences [8].

• States and education boards should make drug awareness part of the regular syllabus

• The Standing Committee asked for drug awareness in school and college curricula [7].
• Navchetna (Classes 6 to 11) can be the base for this [2].

13. Anchors for Answers

• Data: 9.11 lakh+ treatment seekers in 2025-26 against 7 crore+ people with SUDs in 2018. That is about 1 in 75 reached by treatment in a year [1].
• Data: 730+ free NAPDDR centres and 27.76 lakh people treated in total, about 4% of the 2018 burden [3].
• Report/Committee: Standing Committee on Social Justice and Empowerment, 51st Report, 'Drug Abuse among Young Persons – Problems and Solutions' (August 2023). It asked for periodic surveys, an impact assessment of NAPDDR, faster use of funds, and drug awareness in curricula [7].
• Law/Case: NDPS Act, 1985: Section 27 (using drugs is a crime), Section 64A (immunity for addicts who volunteer for treatment), Section 39 (court can send a convicted addict for treatment) [4].
• Comparison: UN Secretary-General's message on the International Day against Drug Abuse calls for rehabilitation over punishment and imprisonment for minor drug offences [8].
• Scheme: Navchetna modules (Classes 6 to 11), the base for adding drug awareness to the regular syllabus [2].

14. Mains Relevance

• GS-II: welfare schemes for vulnerable sections; issues relating to health; role of civil society, NGOs and community participation.
• GS-III: linkages of organised crime with drug trafficking, and internal security, through the demand-supply interface.
• GS-IV: stigma, compassion and public service values; case studies on addiction in families or institutions.
• Possible question stems: 1. Substance dependence in India is a public health challenge rather than a law-and-order problem. Examine in light of the Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan and NAPDDR. (GS-II, 15 marks) 2. Awareness campaigns achieve scale but not necessarily outcomes. Critically evaluate the Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan's shift from an institution-driven initiative to a Jan Andolan. (GS-II, 10 marks) 3. Drug demand reduction and supply reduction must work in tandem to counter narco-trafficking. Discuss with reference to India's institutional framework. (GS-III, 15 marks)

15. Related Topics to Study Next

• NDPS Act, 1985 (provisions and amendments): the statutory base for both enforcement and treatment centres [4].
• NAPDDR components: the umbrella plan that NMBA belongs to [1].
• National Survey on Substance Use (2018): the data behind the policy [1].
• Narcotics Control Bureau and supply-side enforcement (MHA): the other half of drug policy.
• Mental Healthcare Act, 2017 and Tele-MANAS: addiction overlaps with mental-health service delivery.
• Golden Crescent and Golden Triangle: geographic sources of trafficking into India, relevant to border states.
• UN drug conventions (1961, 1971, 1988): the international framework that the NDPS Act implements.
• Navchetna and school health programmes: prevention through education [2].

16. NCERT Concepts to Revise

• Social justice (Polity): NMBA is run by the Social Justice Ministry to support vulnerable groups like youth, women and children.
• Prohibition of intoxicating drinks (Polity): Article 47 directs the state to curb intoxicating drugs harmful to health; it is the constitutional basis for the campaign.
• Narcotics Control Bureau (Polity): NCB handles the supply-side enforcement under the Home Ministry, the other half of drug policy beside NMBA.
• Mental Healthcare Act 2017 (Polity): Addiction overlaps with mental-health care, and this Act guarantees access to such services.
• Civil society (Polity): NMBA relies on NGOs, volunteers and local groups to reach people and spread awareness.
• Community (Polity): The campaign claims to have become a community-led movement, so the idea of community explains its method.
• Community participation (Economy): Nasha Mukti Mitr volunteers show citizens working together for a social goal without payment.
• Demand (Economy): NAPDDR aims at demand reduction, meaning lowering people's wish to use drugs through prevention and treatment.
• Supply (Economy): Supply reduction means enforcement against trafficking; it is separate from NMBA's mandate and must work alongside it.
• Standing committee (Polity): The 2023 Standing Committee report asked for surveys and an impact assessment of NAPDDR, shaping the note's critique.
• Governance (Polity): Phased rollout and the Jan Andolan model show how a scheme is delivered through State, district and local machinery.
• Ministry of Home Affairs (Polity): A common trap: enforcement and NCB sit under MHA, while NMBA and NAPDDR sit under the Social Justice Ministry.

17. Common Errors / Trap Areas

• Wrong ministry: NMBA and NAPDDR are under MoSJE. Enforcement (NCB) is under MHA [1].
• NMBA vs NAPDDR: NAPDDR is the umbrella plan; NMBA is only its awareness arm. Treatment and counselling are NAPDDR services [1].
• Date confusion: 15 Aug 2020 is the launch, Aug 2022 the expansion to 372 districts, and 15 Aug 2023 the extension to all districts. All three fall on or near Independence Day [1].
• Swapped numbers: 272 is the launch coverage and 372 the 2022 coverage. Do not swap 14.35 crore (youth) with 11.33 crore (women) [1].
• Survey year: the national survey was conducted in 2018, not 2020 or 2021 [1].