Daijiworld Media Network – Mangaluru

Mangaluru, Aug 1: Swastika National Business School, Mangaluru, in association with Mangaluru City Police, Urwa police station, CEN police station, KS Hegde Medical Academy, and NITTE (Deemed to be University) department of forensic medicine and toxicology, will conduct a ‘Drug-Free Campus’ event on August 4. As part of the initiative, a compulsory drug test will be held for students at the Swastika National Business School campus.

Press Club president Harish Rai will inaugurate the programme. Assistant commissioner of police, CEN police station, Raveesh S Nayak will be the chief guest. The event will be presided over by Dr Raghavendra Holla, chairman of Swastika National Business School. A special talk on drug addiction will be delivered by Dr Mahabalesh Shetty, professor and director of student affairs at KS Hegde Medical Academy, NITTE (DU).

Dr Raghavendra Holla stated, “Compulsory drug testing will be conducted for 120 first-year students of B.Com, BBA, and BSW courses. Random drug tests will be conducted for second- and third-year students. We also conducted drug tests last year. As first-year students are joining on August 4, we are making it mandatory for them. Additionally, random drug tests will be conducted every two months.”

He added, “Last year, the response from students was positive. We had two students test positive, as they had consumed drugs two months prior to their admission. They were counselled, and their subsequent five test results came back negative. They are now placed in good jobs. Every college should adopt this initiative, and students should understand the importance of these tests.”

ACP Raveesh Nayak, NSS officer and vice principal Vidhya Shetty, Dr Suraj from the department of forensic medicine and toxicology, KS Hegde Medical Academy, NITTE (DU), and student representatives from Swastika National Business School were also present.