More than 900 students put creativity in the service of a cause — and on Tuesday, 3 November 2026, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis stood in Pune to tell them it mattered. The Chief Minister's Office of Maharashtra announced that Fadnavis personally distributed prizes and certificates to winners of a reels-and-poster-making competition organised by the Pimpri-Chinchwad Police Commissionerate to drive anti-narcotics awareness among young people.

Who took home gold: the winning students and teams

In the poster-making competition, the gold medal went to Sonal Purohit of Marathwada Mitra Mandal Pharmacy College, Kalewadi, with silver claimed by Amruta Shinde of Lilabaai Kantilal Khinvsara Primary School, Chinchwad. The reels competition — a format that speaks directly to how today's youth consume and share information — was won by Ganesh International School, Chikhali, Pune, followed by International School of Business and Media, Pune in second place.

The ceremony also honoured the football side. The Vitthalnagarfootball team from Sant Tukaram Nagar Police Station lifted the trophy in the football tournament held under the 'Disha' initiative of the Pimpri-Chinchwad Police Commissionerate — a community-outreach programme that channels competitive sport as a tool for youth engagement.

Why Pimpri-Chinchwad, and why reels

Pimpri-Chinchwad is one of Maharashtra's fastest-growing industrial corridors, home to a dense population of young workers, students, and migrants — a demographic that drug-awareness campaigns specifically target. The police commissionerate here has increasingly used peer-to-peer creative formats, recognising that a short reel made by a classmate travels further than a government pamphlet.

Maharashtra police units have periodically run anti-narcotics drives that blend creative competitions with sports events to reach school and college students. The pattern reflects a state-level recognition that substance-abuse prevention is most durable when young people are participants, not just audiences. CM Fadnavis, who has overseen multiple terms of state governance, has been a consistent ceremonial presence at such community-policing events — lending the weight of the Chief Minister's office to local-level outreach.

Sport as a prevention tool: the 'Disha' approach

The inclusion of a football tournament alongside the creative contests is deliberate design. Structured sport builds the same social infrastructure — team discipline, goal orientation, trusted adult mentors — that research consistently links to lower rates of substance experimentation among adolescents. By awarding the Vitthalnagarfootball team on the same stage as the poster and reel winners, the Pimpri-Chinchwad Commissionerate signals that prevention is not a single-channel message.

With similar awareness competitions expected from other Maharashtra police units in coming months, Tuesday's ceremony sets both a template and a benchmark — over 900 students engaged, winners recognised, and a Chief Minister present to ensure the moment lands beyond a local notice board.