Rijiju at Delhi College Event on Drug-Free Youth for Viksit Bharat
Synopsis
Key Takeaways
Drug prevention met nation-building ambition on Tuesday at one of Delhi's most storied campuses, as Union Parliamentary Affairs and Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju served as Chief Guest at the Yuva Samvad — a youth dialogue on the theme 'Nasha Mukt Yuva for Viksit Bharat' (Drug-Free Youth for a Developed India) — held at Indraprastha College for Women, University of Delhi, on 13 October 2026.
A Century-Old Campus, a 2047 Vision
Indraprastha College for Women, founded in 1924 and one of the oldest women's colleges affiliated with the University of Delhi, provided the setting for the event organised under MY Bharat — the government's flagship platform for youth engagement and volunteerism, anchored within the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. The gathering brought together students, officials, and administrators around a single urgent question: how does a drug-free generation become the foundation of a developed India by 2047?
Rijiju was joined by Ms. Saloni Rai, District Magistrate, North Delhi; Prof. Poonam Kumria, Principal of Indraprastha College; and Ms. Priyanka Rana, District Youth Officer, MY Bharat — a cross-section of administrative, academic, and youth-development leadership on one platform.
Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyan and the MY Bharat Connect
The event sits within a broader policy arc. The Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyan, launched in 2020 by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, targeted substance abuse through community outreach and awareness drives. MY Bharat extends that spirit into campus spaces, mobilising young Indians as active participants — not just beneficiaries — of social change.
Central ministers appearing as chief guests at college-level social-issue events has become a recognisable government pattern, deliberately linking the Viksit Bharat vision — India's ambitious development roadmap to 2047 — with the daily choices and aspirations of students. The message is consistent: demographic dividend means nothing without a healthy, focused youth cohort.
Why This Event Is More Than a Campus Function
The optics matter. A women's college in the heart of the capital, a Cabinet minister on the dais, and district administration in the front row signal that drug prevention is being framed not as a social-welfare afterthought but as a national-security and development priority. Expect MY Bharat to roll out similar Yuva Samvads at universities across states in the months ahead, with Parliament's winter session likely offering an opportunity to surface youth-welfare discussions.
For India's colleges — and for the millions of young voters watching — the government is making the case that the road to 2047 runs clean.