In a major step towards combating drug abuse and subsequent violence among youth in Kerala, the State police department has decided to implement a novel project titled ‘Prevention of Drug Abuse’ (PODA) targeting the employed youths in private and public sectors. As part of the project, youths who enroll in private companies will have to undergo drug tests at regular intervals as suggested by the companies and police administration.
Further, at the time of joining the service (be it private or public), a mandatory pledge to abstain from drug abuse has to be signed by the candidates, along with providing consent to undergo drug testing at regular intervals as the job demands. If drug use is found during tests, disciplinary action, including dismissal, will be taken against the candidates, said State Police Chief (SPC) Ravada A. Chandrasekhar at a media briefing here on Tuesday.
In the first phase, the project will be implemented in the private sector with the cooperation of private enterprises. This scheme can also be implemented in government institutions in the next phase with the permission of the State government. The move was against the backdrop of a survey finding which revealed that the drug consumption is very high among the financially stable youth in the age group of 25-35 in Kerala.
Studies have also shown that the average age of entry into government service through the Public Service Commission (PSC) is 33 years. Since the average age of entry into the private sector is very low, 98% of the youth below the age of 30 work in the private sector. They have access to a lot of money at a young age, giving a spurt to drug abuse among the financially stable youth aged 25-35 working in the private sector, said the police.
To address this crisis, a collaborative initiative is needed, and the PODA project, a policy intervention for the private sector in India, can bring a change by adopting the initiative by the private sector, pioneering corporate-led drug prevention. The Kerala Police has already discussed the implementation of the PODA initiative in the private sector with the leaders of various private sector organisations, such as the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, G-Tech (Group of Technology Companies), FICCI, CII, YI, BNI, KMA, etc., and they have accepted it in principle. The project will be kicked off in the private sector from January 2026.
As part of a recent crackdown on the drug mafia and its supply chains, the State police have registered 30,991 cases in 2025 alone through the special drive called ‘Operation D-Hunt’. Out of which 349 cases were for seizure of commercial quantity, while 957 cases were for seizure of intermediate quantity, followed by 7,718 cases of small quantity.