From the heart of Punjab's premier police training ground, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann chaired a live review meeting of the state's flagship anti-drug campaign — 'Yudh Nashian Virudh' ('War Against Drugs') — at the Punjab Police Academy, Phillaur, on Friday, October 16, 2026. The choice of Phillaur as the venue was deliberate: this is where Punjab's police officers are forged, and the fight against narcotics runs through every rank of that force.

'Yudh Nashian Virudh': What the Campaign Stands For

Launched after the Aam Aadmi Party's landslide victory in the 2022 Punjab Assembly elections, 'Yudh Nashian Virudh' is the Mann government's most visible governance commitment — a statewide offensive that combines hard enforcement with public awareness. The campaign targets synthetic drug supply chains, cross-border narcotics networks, and the deep social roots of addiction that have devastated a generation of Punjab's youth.

Punjab's drug crisis is not new. Successive governments have wrestled with it, swinging between crackdowns and rehabilitation drives. What the current administration has attempted is a simultaneous two-front approach: police action on supply, and community outreach to reduce demand. Review meetings like the one in Phillaur are designed to stress-test that strategy — measuring what is working, what is stalling, and where resources need to be redeployed.

Why Phillaur, and Why a Live Broadcast

The Punjab Police Academy in Phillaur, located in Jalandhar district, is the nerve centre of police training for the state. Holding a high-level campaign review here sends a clear institutional signal: anti-narcotics operations are not a political photo opportunity, but a core policing mandate embedded from training onwards.

Broadcasting the review session live on social media is equally pointed. It places the proceedings — and therefore the accountability for outcomes — squarely in the public domain. For a campaign whose credibility depends on visible results, the live format leaves little room for official opacity.

The Stakes Behind a Routine Review

For Punjab's families, especially in rural districts where synthetic drugs and opiates have hollowed out entire neighbourhoods, a review meeting is only as meaningful as the directives that follow it. Watchers of the campaign will be tracking whether the session produces sharper seizure targets, stronger inter-state coordination on supply routes, or commitments to expand rehabilitation infrastructure.

Four years into the AAP government's term, the anti-drug drive remains the most politically charged test of the administration's credibility. High-profile enforcement numbers have been cited periodically, but addiction rates and community-level impact remain contested ground. A public, live-streamed review is Mann's way of keeping that pressure visible — directed at his own administration as much as at the drug networks it is targeting.

Punjab's war on narcotics has many fronts. Today's review in Phillaur is the latest effort to make sure none of them go quiet.