Rajya Sabha MP Vikramjit Singh Sahney on Friday, 25 September 2026, announced a ₹51 lakh personal contribution to establish a Skill Development Centre in Majitha, Punjab, framing the initiative as a concrete step in the state's broader fight against drug abuse. The announcement was made during the ongoing Nasha Mukt Punjab Yatra, a campaign aimed at building an addiction-free Punjab.

What the Centre Will Offer

According to Sahney, the proposed centre will focus on market-oriented vocational training designed to improve employment prospects for young people. The emphasis will be on equipping youth with skills that translate directly into dignified livelihoods, rather than general-purpose courses with limited job-market relevance.

Sahney positioned the initiative as part of a wider ecosystem — one that links education, skill development, employment, and rehabilitation — arguing that awareness campaigns alone are insufficient to tackle Punjab's drug crisis.

The Anti-Drug Connect

'If we want to make Punjab truly Nasha Mukt, we have to give our youth a positive direction and meaningful opportunities. A young person with skills, a job and a sense of purpose is far better equipped to stay away from drugs. The ₹51 lakh contribution for the Skill Centre in Majitha is a step in that direction,' Sahney said at the event.

He further stressed that the Nasha Mukt Yatra is 'not merely about asking our youth to stay away from drugs' but about 'creating an ecosystem in which they have education, skills, employment and hope.' Critics and social workers in Punjab have long argued that poverty and unemployment are structural drivers of drug dependency in the state, lending credence to this supply-side approach.

Broader Context: Punjab's Drug Challenge

Punjab has grappled with a well-documented drug abuse crisis for over a decade, with successive governments launching awareness drives and de-addiction programmes. This initiative, however, attempts to address the demand side of the problem — reducing vulnerability to addiction by creating economic alternatives, rather than solely targeting supply or treatment.

Sahney called on society at large to support young people already affected by addiction in returning to productive lives. 'Punjab has immense talent. Our responsibility is to ensure that this talent finds the right opportunities here, rather than allowing our youth to be trapped by addiction or hopelessness,' he said.

What Comes Next

Details regarding the timeline for construction or operationalisation of the Majitha Skill Development Centre were not immediately disclosed. The announcement adds to a growing list of constituency-level interventions by elected representatives seeking to address Punjab's youth unemployment and drug crisis simultaneously. Whether this model will be replicated across other districts remains to be seen.