Medical colleges across the country have been asked to bring their students into a national anti-drug campaign this month. In a public notice dated 7 October 2026, the National Medical Commission (NMC) asked deans and principals to get students and faculty to take the Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan e-pledge and to run awareness and outreach work on substance abuse.
The NMC public notice, signed by Secretary Dr Raghav Langer, says the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MoSJE) is planning an event to mark six years of the Abhiyaan, tentatively in the second or fourth week of October 2026.
The campaign has run since 2020 and aims at a drug-free India by 2029, with a focus on cutting demand, mobilising communities and spreading awareness about the harm drugs do.
What medical colleges are asked to do
The notice says MoSJE wants wider publicity and participation of medical students, and that the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare asked the Commission to issue an advisory to colleges.
NMC lists four activities for colleges: getting students and faculty to take the NMBA e-pledge, organising awareness programmes on the harmful effects of substance abuse, community outreach involving medical students, and promoting a healthy, substance-free environment on campus and in the surrounding area.
The e-pledge is on the website of the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment, on its Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan page. For clarifications, NMC names Dr Sijo George, nodal officer at MoSJE, on 86076 58725.
The notice is addressed to the dean, principal or director of every medical college and institution. It is an advisory. It does not set a deadline or a reporting format for colleges, but it asks them to circulate it widely among students and teachers. Because the MoSJE event dates are tentative, colleges have room to spread pledge drives and talks across the month.
In Varanasi, a cycle rally today
Universities in Uttar Pradesh are part of the same drive. Sampurnanand Sanskrit Vishwavidyalaya in Varanasi has announced a cycle yatra against drug abuse on Thursday, 8 October, under the Prime Minister's de-addiction campaign.
The university's notice, dated 7 October and issued by Dean of Student Welfare Prof Shailesh Kumar Mishra, says the rally will leave the university's main building, one of the city's best known heritage buildings, at 12 noon. All teachers, officers, staff and students are expected to take part, and the Vice-Chancellor has approved the plan. The notice also asks the proctor's office to arrange police support for the route.
The rally follows a letter from the Governor's secretariat in Lucknow dated 24 July 2026 and directions given at review meetings in late July chaired by the Governor and by the state's Higher Education Minister.
Where schools fit in
Schools have their own version of the campaign. CBSE asked its schools last month to register on a dedicated portal under a three-year plan, which we covered in our report on the Nasha Mukt Vidyalaya Abhiyan.
For medical students, this is the second NMC notice in two days that touches their colleges' public conduct. The first set new rules on how doctors and hospitals advertise, explained in our story on the NMC ethical advertising guidelines.
What students can do this month
The e-pledge takes a few minutes online. Awareness work is where medical students can add something others cannot: they can explain, in plain language, what dependence does to the body and where families can find help. A short session at a nearby school or a health camp in a village adopted by the college fits what the notice asks for.
NMC has also sent copies of the notice to the directorates of medical education of all states and union territories, so state-run colleges may receive their own instructions on top of this advisory.
Students who want to help run an awareness session should start with their college's NSS unit or community medicine department, which usually handle outreach of this kind.
