From Devendra Nagar Chowk to Lal Chowk, the streets of Raipur carried a clear message on Wednesday, 30 September 2026 — and Chief Minister Vishnu Dev Sai delivered it on foot. The Chief Minister's Office of Chhattisgarh announced that CM Sai personally participated in the Nasha Mukti Padyatra (anti-drug march) organised as part of the ongoing Seva Sankalp Abhiyan week, putting the weight of his office behind a campaign to steer young people away from substance abuse.

What CM Sai Said on the Streets of Raipur

Addressing participants during the march, CM Sai made the stakes plain: 'The harmful effects of addiction are not limited to one individual — they devastate entire families and society.' His government's stated priority, he said, is to connect youth to education, skill development, employment, sports, and entrepreneurship as deliberate alternatives to substance use. He closed with a direct appeal — stay away from drugs yourself, and inspire others to do the same.

The route — a visible arterial stretch of Raipur — was chosen for maximum public visibility. A march through a busy urban corridor, rather than a closed auditorium event, signals that this campaign is aimed squarely at community ownership, not just institutional tick-boxing.

Seva Sankalp Abhiyan and the Padyatra Week

The march falls within a dedicated Nasha Mukti Padyatra Saptah (anti-drug march week) running from 25 September to 2 October under the Seva Sankalp Abhiyan — a broader state government initiative that bundles public service, awareness drives, and social welfare outreach. The week-long format, structured around mass participation, is designed to build momentum before it closes on 2 October, a date that carries symbolic resonance as Gandhi Jayanti.

The Nasha Mukt Chhattisgarh campaign sits in a wider national frame: the Union government's Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyan, launched in 2020 by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, established the template of combining awareness events with structured youth outreach. Chhattisgarh's state-level iteration builds on that architecture, adding the state government's own emphasis on skills and entrepreneurship as durable off-ramps from drug dependency.

Why Youth Are the Target — and Why It Matters Now

Indian states have periodically run anti-substance campaigns, but the framing here is notably economic: CM Sai's language links nasha mukti (freedom from addiction) directly to employment and entrepreneurship, not just moral appeals. That pivot matters. A state with a young demographic profile, as Chhattisgarh has, risks forfeiting its demographic dividend if substance abuse erodes workforce participation. Putting the CM on the street alongside ordinary residents rather than behind a podium is a deliberate choice to normalise participation and reduce stigma around the conversation.

With the Seva Sankalp Abhiyan week closing on 2 October, the real test will be whether the symbolic energy of this padyatra translates into sustained programme funding and community follow-through — something that march participation numbers alone cannot answer.