104 schools in Kerala identified as drug hotspots; Excise Department launches crackdown: Report
Thiruvananthapuram: In a worrying revelation, the Excise Department has identified 104 schools across Kerala as drug hotspots, highlighting the growing threat of substance abuse among school students.
The move comes after investigations revealed a disturbing prevalence of drug use in these institutions, as reported by The New Indian Express on Saturday.
The flagged schools include government, aided, and private institutions in the high school and higher secondary categories. Thiruvananthapuram district tops the list with 43 schools, followed by Ernakulam and Kozhikode.
The hotspot schools will be placed under surveillance, and police assistance will be sought wherever necessary. “The department has been directed to take action on its own and also in coordination with other departments, such as police, to purge the elements that lure school students,” TNIE quoted a senior excise officer as saying.
Investigations also suggested that some shops near schools were supplying drugs to students. The excise department has reported this to the state government, which has directed the revocation of licences of shops involved in drug peddling. However, enforcement remains challenging as many such shops operate without proper licences. Officials plan to use other legal provisions to crack down on these establishments.
The department is engaging with principals and headmasters of the listed schools, seeking their cooperation in monitoring student activities, added the report. Schools have been asked to provide details about entry and exit points set up for students, vacant rooms and plots on the school campuses where students may gather.
Additionally, there will be strict monitoring of student interactions with outsiders, and background checks will be conducted on individuals loitering near schools, TNIE quoted its source as saying.
In cases where students are found involved in drug abuse, the excise officials will reach out to parents and school authorities. With their consent, affected students will be rehabilitated under the 'Vimukthi' de-addiction programme.
As part of the crackdown, key countermeasures include visits by excise range officers to all schools within their jurisdiction to assess and monitor the situation. Shops located near schools will be inspected, and the licences of those found selling drugs or other intoxicants will be cancelled. In addition, owners of such shops will face legal action. To enhance vigilance, daily bike patrolling will be conducted near schools before and after class hours.
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Two injuries, one DNF, a DQ as India end messy World Relays campaign
Gaborone (Botswana) (PTI): Amoj Jacob and Ragul Kumar got injured during the men's 4x400m and 4x100 races respectively as India ended their World Athletics Relays campaign in disappointment on the second day of competitions here on Sunday.
The Indian camp had high hopes of making the 2027 World Championships in the men's 4x400m relay but the team did not finish (DNF) the race as Jacob suffered cramps and pulled out of the race after taking the baton from the first leg runner Dharamveer Choudhary. Rajesh Ramesh and Vishal TK were to run in the third and fourth legs.
Those teams which could not qualify for the 2027 Beijing World Championships by reaching the final round of each of the six relay events on Saturday were given another chance in the second qualification round on Sunday.
The top two teams in each of the two heats (in all six relay events) booked the Beijing ticket on Sunday.
India will now have to try and qualify for the World Championships through the Top Lists of the World Athletics, which is a long and tedious process.
In the men's 4x100m race, third leg runner Ragul Kumar fell down the track after failing to hand over the baton inside the exchange zone to fourth leg runner Gurindervir Singh, which clearly showed the lack of coordination among the runners.
Harsh Santosh Raut and Animesh Kujur ran the first two legs.
The Indian quartet was disqualified and Kumar was seen being taken away from the Field of Play with the help of the volunteers.
It was a comedy of errors in the case of the women's 4x100m race, which saw the baton being dropped during an exchange between first leg runner Tamanna and second runner Nithya Gandhe, though the Indians finished the race in 53.09 seconds.
Gandhe started running quite a distance, but after realising that the baton was not in her hand, she turned and ran back to pick it up.
The only silver-lining for the Indian contingent was the national record time in the mixed 4x100m relay race, though the quartet of Ragul Kumar, Nithya Gandhe, Animesh Kujur and Sneha SS finished sixth in heat number two with a time of 41.35 seconds, bettering the previous national mark of 42.30 seconds set in March in Chandigarh.
The mixed 4x400m relay quartet of Theerthesh P Shetty, Kumari Saloni, Nihal William and Rashdeep Kaur ended at fifth in heat number one with a time of 3 minutes and 19.40 seconds.
On Saturday, all the five Indian relay teams had failed to make it to the respective final rounds and thus missed out on the 2027 World Championships berths.
