HT Correspondent
YINGKIONG, July 11: The Department of Women and Child Development (WCD) in Yingkiong, Upper Siang district, has launched a wide-ranging sensitisation and awareness campaign across government schools in the region to educate students and teachers on key social issues and centrally sponsored welfare schemes.
According to an official statement issued by the department, the programme began on July 9 and has so far covered five schools, reaching over 1,800 students and 100 teachers.
The campaign is being conducted under the ambit of national flagship schemes including the Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan (NMBA), Mission Shakti, and Mission Vatsalya.
The primary focus of the campaign is to address substance and drug abuse among adolescents.
Students were sensitised about the harmful effects of drug use through interactive discussions and awareness sessions.
Pledge-taking ceremonies were also organised during the sessions to encourage students to commit themselves to a drug-free lifestyle.
In addition to substance abuse, the programme also aimed to raise awareness about child protection laws and safeguards available for women and children.
Sessions conducted under Mission Shakti and Mission Vatsalya informed participants about the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, the legal consequences of child marriage, and other protective legal provisions.
The campaign has so far been held at Government Secondary School, Parsing; Government Town Secondary School; Government Upper Primary School, Daggong; Government Higher Secondary School; and Vivekananda Kendra Vidyalaya (VKV), Yingkiong.
The WCD Department has expressed its intention to continue the campaign in additional schools in the coming weeks, with the objective of creating a more aware, safer, and informed environment for school-going children and adolescents in the district.