Drug-free India by December 2029: Amit Shah calls for united nationwide campaign

Amit Shah urged police forces nationwide to eliminate narcotics by December 31, 2029. The campaign seeks to protect future generations and disrupt funding for anti-national organisations.

In Short

• Drug abuse threatens future generations while funding organisations involved in anti-national activities
• Police Commemoration Day honoured personnel killed in the line of duty
• Security forces were credited with ending decades of Naxalism by March 2026

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday called on police forces across the country to work towards eliminating narcotics by the end of 2029, warning that drug abuse threatens future generations and funds organisations involved in anti-national activities, the Press Trust of India reported.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set December 31, 2029, as the deadline for achieving the goal of a drug-free India. Shah said the remaining months of 2026, along with 2027, 2028 and 2029, would be devoted to a united campaign against drugs.

Paying tribute to police personnel who died in the line of duty at the National Police Memorial in New Delhi on Police Commemoration Day, Shah described the fight against drugs as a major national priority. He said drug abuse also placed an undue burden on the economy.

Police forces across the country should work towards the government's goal of a drug-free India, he said, stressing that the campaign was essential to protect future generations.

Shah also said the country had eliminated decades of Naxalism by March 31, 2026. He credited the Chhattisgarh Police, the Central Armed Police Forces, the Central Reserve Police Force and its CoBRA unit for their role in combating the insurgency, according to PTI.

More than 3,600 security personnel and about 13,700 civilians were killed in violence linked to Naxalism between 1981 and March 2026, Shah said. He again praised the CRPF, CoBRA and the Chhattisgarh Police for their efforts.

Shah presided over the annual event, which included a joint parade by the Central Armed Police Forces and the Delhi Police. The function is held in memory of 10 police personnel killed in an ambush by heavily armed Chinese troops at Hot Springs in Ladakh on October 21, 1959.

The minister also flagged off a motorcycle rally titled “Fight Against Drugs”, involving about 90 police riders from several states and Union territories, the Central Armed Police Forces and other central police organisations.

The rally is part of a nationwide initiative under which riders from across India will travel to Ekta Nagar in Gujarat to participate in the Ekta Parade on October 31, an official statement said.

Participants include riders from Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi. Personnel from the CRPF, Central Industrial Security Force, Border Security Force, Sashastra Seema Bal, Indo-Tibetan Border Police, National Security Guard, Railway Protection Force, National Disaster Response Force and National Investigation Agency are also taking part.

Shah's address focused on the nationwide campaign to eliminate narcotics by December 31, 2029, while the motorcycle rally will carry the anti-drug message to the Ekta Parade in Gujarat.

- Ends