Govt plans consent-based student drug screening in centrally-funded higher education institutions

The government has proposed introducing consent-based drug screening for students at centrally funded higher educational institutions. The centre has also placed a plan for creating drug-free campuses extending up to a 500-metre radius around educational institutions, ANI reported.

The consent-based drug screening will be a part of student wellness programmes and will work under the Vision Document on Narcotics Control (2026-29), as per the report.

Nityanand Rai, minister of state for home affairs, informed parliament that the three-year roadmap also focuses on preventive education, awareness campaigns, counselling and community participation to foster safe and drug-free educational environments, the report added.

"Further, consent-based screening tests for students as part of the student wellness programme is also proposed in the Vision Document at Centrally Funded Higher Educational Institutions," Rai said in the report.

Need to keep youths away from drugs, addiction: PM Modi

Rai further said that it forms part of a structured, time-bound roadmap aimed at ensuring safer environments for students, it added.

"The initiative forms part of the three-year, time-bound roadmap under the Vision Document, which also promotes Drug-Free Campuses, preventive education, awareness programmes, counselling and community participation to create a safe and drug-free environment in educational institutions," he said in the report.

The proposal by the central government came after Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserted that the youth will take the nation to the goal of a developed India by 2047 and its essential for them to stay away from addiction and drugs, the report said.

"You are the Amritpidhi of India. You will shape the direction of your lives in the next 20-25 years, and it is you who will lead the nation to the goal of a developed India by 2047. You will be seated at its pinnacle. The opportunity to savour all its sweetness will be yours alone," PM Modi said in the news report.

In June 2026, CP Radhakrishnan, vice president of India, urged universities across the nation to follow the Delhi University-led “drug-free campus campaign.”