A hundred weeks. That is the runway Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi has committed to a sweeping anti-drug campaign — and on Sunday, 2 August 2026, he stood in Bhubaneswar to fire the starting gun. The Nisha Mukta Yuva – Viksit Bharat Sankalp Abhiyan ('Drug-Free Youth – Developed India Resolve Campaign') brought together volunteers from schools, colleges, the My Bharat platform, and the National Service Scheme (NSS) in what the Chief Minister called a 'epoch-making step' toward a healthy and disciplined nation.

Zero tolerance, 100 weeks: what Odisha is committing to

CM Majhi was unambiguous about the state's position on drug networks: his government has adopted a 'Zero Tolerance' policy aimed at the complete elimination of illegal narcotics syndicates operating in Odisha. The campaign is not a one-time event — it is designed to run without interruption for 100 weeks, channelling youth energy through sports, fitness, yoga, and cultural engagement rather than letting it be preyed upon by traffickers.

Majhi framed the initiative as an expression of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision, connecting it to the broader Viksit Bharat 2047 narrative that BJP-led governments at the centre and in the states have made a signature policy plank. The mass participation of civil-society volunteers, he said, would strengthen Odisha's social and cultural fabric against the corrosive pull of addiction.

Roots in a national campaign, stakes sharpened in Odisha

The Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyan was first launched nationally in August 2020 by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, targeting districts with high substance-abuse vulnerability. Odisha's iteration under the Majhi government — which took office after the 2024 state elections — sharpens the focus on organised drug syndicates, signalling that enforcement action is expected to run alongside the awareness drive.

The My Bharat platform, a national digital youth-engagement portal launched in 2023, and the NSS, established in 1969 to promote student volunteerism, form the organisational backbone of the campaign's ground outreach. Their involvement gives the initiative reach into campuses and rural youth networks that a purely administrative drive could not easily access.

Sports, yoga, and culture as the counter-narrative

Rather than framing the campaign solely as a law-enforcement exercise, Majhi's messaging leans on positive alternatives: sports, fitness, yoga, and sanskar (cultural values) as the tools to redirect youth. This dual-track approach — crackdown on supply, cultivation of purpose — mirrors the playbook central and state BJP governments have deployed in states like Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat, where anti-narcotics drives have been paired with youth-skilling and fitness programmes.

The Chief Minister called on every citizen to join with commitment and resolve, framing a drug-free youth as inseparable from the goal of a prosperous Odisha and a developed India.

Watch the next 100 weeks: whether Odisha's district-level rollout translates political resolve into measurable enforcement outcomes will be the real test of this campaign's ambition.