IPS Surendra Lamba Fighting Drug Abuse with Mission Hoshiyar in Hoshiarpur (Punjab)

IPS Surendra Lamba is a 2013 batch officer of Punjab cadre and is currently posted as Senior Superintendent of Police in Hoshiarpur, Punjab. His mission is to stop drug abuse and create a safer community. To achieve this, Lamba shared “We’ve started Mission Hoshiyar, an anti-drug campaign”.

Mission Hoshiyar is a holistic anti-drug initiative that covers all the facets of drug abuse. It operates in three key stages.

The first stage focuses on awareness and prevention “This includes awareness campaign targeting the youth to prevent them from falling into the drug trap,” he explained. This is achieved through campaigns in schools, colleges, public meetings, and marathons.

Additionally, meetings are being held with key figures like sarpanches, school principals, ASHA workers, and grassroots organizations to raise awareness, bridge the gap and strengthen local participation.

The second stage is enforcement, where coordinated operations are carried out under lamba’s leadership “These operations are aimed to identify and apprehend individuals involved in drug trafficking.” He shared

The third stage addresses rehabilitation. There are two categories of individuals—severe addicts and those who are in the initial stages. “For those in the early stages, we provide guidance, motivate and connect them to government drug dispensing centers.”he explained.

For severe addicts, they are admitted to hospital for de-addiction and detoxification and then sent to rehabilitation centers “These centers provide counseling, treatment, and skill development programs in areas like cooking, gardening, painting, and electrical work, to help them reintegrate in the society with employable skills.” Lamba shared

Reflecting on the success of the initiative, Lamba emphasized the importance of teamwork and cooperation “The District Collector and we work as a team, which makes our efforts more effective. We are receiving the full support of the district administration, and that’s our biggest strength," he concludes.