Hyderabad: The Telangana govt is reportedly contemplating issuing a govt order (GO) to make it mandatory for all educational institutions to have anti-drug committees, besides issuing guidelines to follow, in a bid to make institutions accountable for drug abuse on campus.On this issue, chief minister A Revanth Reddy is scheduled to hold a meeting with senior Telangana police officials and other concerned departments on Tuesday. In the past, the Hyderabad and Cyberabad police commissionerates had issued notifications asking institutions to play an active role in curbing drug abuse. However, these were largely advisory in nature, and some institutions treated the exercise as a mere formality and failed to ensure accountability.Discussions are underway to make the Education Department issue a GO. Sources said officials would get clarity on the guidelines to be framed based on the pending discussions with the chief minister.“If a parent is sending their child to college, the management should take responsibility for ensuring that the campus is safe. A lack of accountability on the part of educational institutions is currently leading to negligence,” sources familiar with the development told TOI. For a long time, EAGLE sleuths have been asking educational institutions to set up robust anti-drug committees, as their experience has shown that leads are rarely shared with the police.Cyberabad police, in a notification last month, said that every institute under its commissionerate should have a nodal officer to coordinate issues related to drugs. The committee should also maintain records of meetings held and awareness campaigns conducted. The surveillance teams of anti-drug committees should look out for suspicious activities by students or outsiders entering the campus.On the toll-free 1908 number, EAGLE sleuths receive 10–15 calls a day providing alerts about drug abusers. On many occasions, family members of drug abusers have reached out seeking help. Officials said that despite students from various deemed universities and govt institutions on the outskirts being caught for drug abuse on campuses, alerts have come from anonymous sources to the police rather than from institutional committees.
