A month later, Prahari Club yet to make debut in schools

Hyderabad: To curb the drug menace among schoolchildren, Telangana government has been planning to form Prahari Clubs in private and government schools. But the orders from the education department to form clubs in the schools are not issued so far.

Last month, the state government has planned to form ‘Prahari Clubs’ in all government and private schools across the state.

As per the State government plan, the club would have a president, usually the headmaster or the principal, a vice-president, a senior teacher, and members – two students each from Classes VI to X, a representative from the parent-teacher association / parent,

and one member from the local police station.

According to sources, on the ground, the initiative just lies on paper and though it is more than a month, the education department has not released any orders to form clubs in schools. This is not new in the education sector, let it be forming a drug committee or fee regulation committee or any other education-related issue, the government only plans but always fails to implement it.

Y Shekar Rao, chief advisor, Telangana Recognised Schools Management Association (TRSMA), said, “The consumption of drugs has increased among school children but it seems the government is least bothered to take any steps. Despite the state government having announced the formation of a drug committee in various schools across the state, it has not taken any action to implement it. When the government has decided to form a drug committee in educational institutions they should immediately implement it.”

Shivaram Krishna, Correspondent of St Sai High School, Bhoiguda, said, “The State Government should be very sincere on forming the drug committee in schools and for that, there should be proper action plan on it and also the Education department should organise meetings with important stakeholders of private and government schools, meeting with principals or directors of various schools, etc. and creating various awareness programmes to avoid drug intake or tackling drug abuse, etc. This action plan is very crucial for the successful implementation of the drug committee. Moreover, school authorities should have clarity of short-term and annual goals. Just releasing the circular will not make any difference in tackling this issue.”

Members of Hyderabad Schools Parents Association pointed out, “When the state government has been implementing various regulations on drugs in different places, why are they not serious in taking action in schools? Whenever there is a rise in drug abuse cases in the city, the government plans to take action but on the ground, they always fail. The government is just trying to distract the public with its promises by passing GOs. A lot of committees are announced or launched only on paper but not at the ground level.”