Gurdaspur admn promotes sports to check drug menace

The Gurdaspur district administration has constituted a body for the maintenance and creation of new playgrounds in over 200 villages close to the India-Pakistan Border, a move aimed at encouraging sports activities among the youth to wean them away from drugs.

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District Playground Maintenance Society (DPMS) will look after playgrounds at 225 villages in the first phase of the plan, for which Rs 30 lakh has been sanctioned.

The move came after a string of incidents involving the dropping of packets containing heroin from across the border, allegedly with the help of drones.

Once a packet containing drugs is dropped, the village youth act as the first link to smuggle out the consignment from Gurdaspur to other places across the country.

The administration has requested former sportspersons to take part in the drive under which youngsters are being encouraged to play traditional sports like kabaddi.

Deputy Commissioner Uma Shankar Gupta is the chairman of the DPMS while the Dinanagar SDM has been appointed as the nodal officer.

Industrial houses, particularly those based in Batala, are being tapped to provide employment to sportspersons.

“We often tell youngsters that do not let drugs write your story. These playgrounds will help eliminate the reasons that push the youth into using drugs,” said Gupta.

He added that these entities will also act as rehabilitation centres.

An official involved in the plan said, “Sports and physical activities are critical to developing healthy bodies and minds.” He alleged that drugs are being supplied from across the border to destroy the youth. “Our playgrounds will help neutralise this dreaded phenomenon,” he said.

Meanwhile, several sportspersons welcomed this move. Judo coach Amarjit Shastri said, “This could not have come at a better time. Pakistanis are regularly creating havoc by despatching heroin into the country. Till our agencies find an antidote to the drones, developing playgrounds is the best available option.”