Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Monday, 8 June 2026 announced the launch of a grassroots anti-addiction campaign — the Nasha Mukti Abhiyan — after a two-day cancer screening and counselling camp held in Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh revealed a high incidence of oral cancer cases linked to tobacco, alcohol and related substances.

Context

Chouhan, writing to his followers in Hindi, said the findings from the Vidisha camp left him deeply shaken. 'Sach mein dahl gaya' (I was truly shaken to the core), he wrote, noting that the largest share of cancer cases detected at the camp were oral cancers. He identified bidi, tobacco, cigarettes, gutkha, alcohol and paan masala as the primary causes.

In his post, Chouhan declared: 'Nasha, naash ki jadd hai' — 'Addiction is the root of destruction' — and said the pain he witnessed had resolved him to launch a sustained campaign against substance use. He acknowledged that the fight could not be won alone and called on citizens to join the effort.

Policy Backdrop

India has maintained a legislative framework against tobacco use since the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA), 2003, which regulates sale, advertisement and consumption of tobacco products. The National Tobacco Control Programme (NTCP), rolled out from 2007–08, established state-level cells to drive awareness and reduce tobacco-related non-communicable diseases.

Despite these measures, oral cancer remains disproportionately prevalent in rural India, where gutkha and bidi consumption is widespread and health literacy is limited. Community-level campaigns that combine screening with behavioural change have been a recurring feature of both central and state government health policy, though sustained implementation has varied significantly across regions.

Stakeholders and Impact

Chouhan holds the portfolios of both Agriculture and Farmers Welfare and Rural Development, giving him a direct institutional channel to rural communities across India. By anchoring the Nasha Mukti Abhiyan at the village level, the campaign is designed to reach populations most vulnerable to substance-related cancers and least served by urban health infrastructure.

Citizens wishing to register as volunteers for the campaign have been asked to give a missed call to 8929629475, after which they will be enrolled as Nasha Mukti Abhiyan workers. Chouhan said village-level committees (samitis) would be formed shortly to convert the campaign into a janaandolan — a people's movement.

The primary stakeholders are rural communities in Madhya Pradesh and potentially other states, along with tobacco and alcohol users who may be reached through door-to-door awareness efforts by registered volunteers.

What's Next

The immediate next step is the rollout of village-level committees across constituencies, with volunteer mobilisation driven through the missed-call registration mechanism. Chouhan's appeal — 'Aayiye, saath aayen, Nasha Mukti Abhiyan chalaayen, samaj ko bachaayen' ('Come, let us join together, run the Nasha Mukti Abhiyan, save society') — signals an intent to build a mass volunteer base before formalising the campaign structure.

If the initiative gains scale, it could intersect with existing rural health and development schemes, potentially integrating tobacco-cessation messaging into the infrastructure of village panchayats and self-help groups. How the campaign is operationalised beyond the initial volunteer registration will determine whether it achieves the reach its launch rhetoric envisions.