Chief Justice of India Justice Surya Kant on Saturday, 18 July 2025, formally launched the Comprehensive Youth Recovery and Rehabilitation Campaign in Punjab, a state-wide, three-month initiative designed to combat rising substance abuse among young people. The campaign was inaugurated in Chandigarh in the presence of the Acting Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court and several sitting High Court judges.

Campaign Structure and Three-Phase Plan

The drive will be run in mission mode by all District Legal Services Authorities (DLSAs) under the Punjab State Legal Services Authority (PSLSA) and is scheduled to operate until 31 October 2025. Officials confirmed the campaign will not conclude in October but will be repeated every quarter for sustained, long-term impact.

A structured three-phase plan underpins the initiative. Phase One (18–31 July) focuses on institutional preparation, capacity building, district-level mapping, and identification of vulnerable individuals and high-risk areas. Phase Two (1–30 September) covers voluntary counselling, family counselling, and referrals to government de-addiction centres, with strict confidentiality maintained for all beneficiaries. Phase Three (1–31 October) addresses post-treatment rehabilitation and follow-up, linking recovered youth with schools, colleges, vocational training, skill development programmes, employment exchanges, and sports and yoga initiatives to prevent relapse.

Focus on Incarcerated Youth and Vulnerable Groups

A notable feature of the campaign is its explicit attention to incarcerated persons suffering from substance dependence. Authorities said special focus will be placed on helping imprisoned individuals overcome addiction with dignity — an acknowledgement that Punjab's prisons house a significant population of drug-dependent inmates. This is the first time the legal services framework in the state has directly embedded prison-based rehabilitation into a structured quarterly drive of this scale.

Multi-Sectoral Network to Drive Implementation

The campaign draws on a broad coalition of government and civil society actors. The implementing network includes the Health Department, Prison Department, education and skill development agencies, police, civil society organisations, and community leaders. The PSLSA has appealed to parents, teachers, youth groups, and healthcare professionals to actively participate in building a drug-free Punjab.

This comes amid persistent concern over Punjab's drug crisis, which has been a subject of political and judicial scrutiny for over a decade. Notably, this is among the most structured legal-services-led interventions in the state, integrating judicial oversight with public health infrastructure.

Significance and What Comes Next

The involvement of the Chief Justice of India in inaugurating a state-level rehabilitation drive signals the judiciary's intent to move beyond adjudication into preventive and restorative action. With the first phase already under way, district authorities are expected to complete vulnerability mapping by 31 July, paving the way for the counselling rollout in September. The campaign's quarterly repetition model, if executed consistently, could serve as a replicable template for other states grappling with substance abuse.