CM Sukhu to Meet Students, Flag Off Anti-Chitta Walkathon in Chamba
Synopsis
Himachal Pradesh CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu visits Tissa in Chamba on 5 November 2026 to interact with students at a PM SHRI model school and flag off the Anti-Chitta Walkathon, combining education outreach with anti-drug mobilisation in a remote hill district.
Key Takeaways
CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu is visiting Tissa, Chamba district on 5 November 2026 .
He will interact with students at the PM SHRI Government Model Senior Secondary School, Tissa .
Sukhu will flag off the Anti-Chitta Walkathon , targeting heroin abuse among youth in the region.
The PM SHRI scheme was launched by the Union government in 2022 to transform select government schools into model institutions.
Chitta (heroin) is a significant narcotics challenge in Himachal Pradesh and neighbouring northern states, particularly among young people.
Chamba district borders Jammu and Kashmir and faces challenges in education access and drug vulnerability due to its remote terrain.
A mountain classroom and a march against heroin — Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu is combining both on Thursday, 5 November 2026, with a visit to Tissa in Chamba district that pairs a student interaction at a model school with the flag-off of an anti-drug walkathon.
Sukhu announced on X that he would engage with students at the PM SHRI Government Model Senior Secondary School, Tissa, before flagging off the Anti-Chitta Walkathon — a public awareness march targeting the spread of chitta (heroin) that has taken a heavy toll on youth in parts of northern India.
What the PM SHRI School in Tissa Represents
The school falls under the PM SHRI (Pradhan Mantri Schools for Rising India) scheme, a 2022 Union government initiative designed to upgrade select government schools into well-resourced model institutions. In a hilly, remote district like Chamba — which borders Jammu and Kashmir and has historically struggled with access to quality education — a PM SHRI designation signals both infrastructure investment and policy attention. A sitting chief minister walking into those classrooms sends a message that the state is watching what the scheme actually delivers on the ground.
The Walkathon and Himachal's Drug Challenge
Chitta, street slang for heroin widely used across Himachal Pradesh and neighbouring states, has become one of the most pressing public-health crises facing the hill state's younger population. The Anti-Chitta Walkathon is a community mobilisation event — part march, part public statement — aimed at building visible social resistance to the drug's spread. Pairing it with a school visit is deliberate: the students inside the classroom and the youth on the streets of Tissa are, in many ways, the same at-risk demographic.
State chief ministers in India have increasingly blended educational outreach under central schemes with anti-narcotics drives, recognising that school attendance, awareness, and peer community all reinforce each other. Sukhu's Chamba visit fits squarely within that pattern — but the choice of Tissa, a sub-divisional town in one of Himachal's more remote corners, underlines a push to take these programmes beyond district headquarters.
Chamba in Focus
Chamba district ranks among Himachal Pradesh's more geographically challenging constituencies for public service delivery. Its terrain limits road connectivity, school attendance rates in higher classes have historically lagged state averages, and its proximity to border areas has made it a corridor of concern for drug movement. A combined education-and-anti-drugs visit by the chief minister places the district at the centre of two of the state's most watched policy conversations simultaneously.
Whether the Tissa walkathon becomes a template replicated across other vulnerable sub-divisions — or remains a one-day optic — will be the question worth tracking in the weeks ahead.
Point of View
Demonstrating cooperative federalism while claiming proximity to delivery on the ground. Pairing it with an anti-chitta walkathon is shrewd — drug abuse is one of the few issues in Himachal Pradesh that cuts cleanly across political lines and commands community sympathy regardless of affiliation. The choice of remote Chamba, rather than a more accessible district, suggests an intent to counter the perception that flagship schemes concentrate in urban or well-connected areas. The harder test will be whether these community mobilisation moments translate into measurable reductions in drug incidents or sustained improvements in school outcomes.
NationPress
5 Nov 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Anti-Chitta Walkathon in Himachal Pradesh?
The Anti-Chitta Walkathon is a community awareness march organised to build public resistance against the abuse of 'chitta' — a street term for heroin — which has become a serious narcotics challenge among youth in Himachal Pradesh and parts of northern India.
What is the PM SHRI scheme?
PM SHRI, or Pradhan Mantri Schools for Rising India, is a central government scheme launched in 2022 to upgrade select existing government schools into well-equipped model institutions with better infrastructure, learning environments, and facilities.
Where is Tissa located?
Tissa is a sub-divisional town in Chamba district, Himachal Pradesh, a hilly and remote region bordering Jammu and Kashmir.
Why is Chamba district significant in the context of drug abuse?
Chamba district's remote terrain and proximity to border areas have made it a corridor of concern for drug movement, contributing to vulnerability among its youth population to substances like chitta (heroin).
What was CM Sukhu doing at the PM SHRI school in Tissa?
CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu visited the PM SHRI Government Model Senior Secondary School in Tissa on 5 November 2026 to interact directly with students as part of his outreach in Chamba district.
