The Ministry of Education marked World No Tobacco Day by felicitating the winners of the “Towards a Tobacco-Free Generation: School Challenge 2025” and launching a three-year action plan under the Nasha Mukt Bharat initiative aimed at strengthening tobacco and substance abuse prevention in schools.
The Department of School Education and Literacy (DoSEL) organised a national meet in New Delhi on May 29, bringing together officials, school heads, teachers and representatives from NCERT, Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti (NVS) and Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS). The event recognised schools that excelled in the MyGov Innovate Campaign promoting tobacco-free educational environments.
Secretary, DoSEL, Sanjay Kumar presented awards to the winning schools and praised their efforts in fostering healthy and substance-free campuses. He highlighted the participation of more than 17,000 schools from across the country and urged educational institutions to work towards becoming tobacco-free.
Emphasising the role of schools in shaping healthy behaviour among students, Kumar said teachers play a crucial role in identifying early behavioural changes and supporting students’ mental and emotional well-being. He noted that the school education system reaches nearly 24.69 crore children and can influence millions of households, making it a powerful platform for driving a nationwide anti-tobacco campaign.
During the event, DoSEL launched its Three-Year Action Plan (2026-2029) under the Nasha Mukt Bharat initiative and unveiled the Nasha Mukt Vidyalaya (NMV) Portal, which will serve as a platform for monitoring and documenting the progress of educational institutions implementing the campaign.
The action plan focuses on four major interventions: school self-declaration and monitoring through the NMV Portal integrated with UDISE+, enforcement of a 500-metre drug-free zone around educational institutions, integration of substance abuse prevention and health education into school curricula, and the development of multilingual awareness materials for students, teachers and parents.
The initiative also includes teacher training, early identification and referral of at-risk students, mental health support through the Manodarpan helpline, and a monitoring framework extending from schools to the national level.
A total of 12 schools were honoured across four categories — Foundational, Preparatory, Middle and Secondary — with three winners in each category. The top three schools in each category received cash prizes of Rs 50,000, Rs 25,000 and Rs 15,000 respectively, along with trophies. Another 41 schools received appreciation awards for their contributions to the initiative.
Speaking at the event, Economic Advisor to DoSEL A. Srija highlighted the government’s sustained efforts to curb tobacco consumption through legislative and fiscal measures, including the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA), 2003, the ban on electronic cigarettes in 2019 and high taxation on tobacco products.
She stressed the importance of early awareness and prevention initiatives among children and adolescents, citing findings from the WHO Global Youth Tobacco Survey. Srija also noted that DoSEL had developed the Manual for Implementation of TOFEI Guidelines in Schools in 2024 to strengthen awareness, compliance and enforcement efforts in educational institutions.
The programme also featured expert discussions on tobacco and substance abuse prevention, mental well-being and the importance of collaboration among schools, families, communities and government institutions in building a Nasha Mukt Bharat.
