Guwahati: Arunachal Pradesh deputy chief minister Chowna Mein used Buddha Jayanti celebrations on Monday to call for a united fight against the drug menace in Namsai district of the frontier state.
Participating in the Buddha Jayanti Cat Namsai Pariyatti Sassana Buddhist Vihara celebrations in Namsai district, Mein called upon community-based organisations to play a lead role in cleaning the area of drug menace and moulding society in the right direction. He said one should come forward and discuss issues instead of playing the blame game.
Parliamentary secretary for planning and personnel Chau Zingnu Namchoom also urged the locals to join hands, irrespective of their community, to fight the drug menace in a bid to take society forward.
Mein had last year said the state government was trying to push tourism in the area to wean the youth away from drugs. Mein had also chaired a meeting with officials, NGOs and leading citizens in Namsai in January this year to chalk out a strategy to check the menace.
The meeting decided to form a joint action committee under the deputy commissioner, with members from community-based organisations, NGOs, women's groups and students organisations as its members. It also decided to upgrade the Lathao de-addiction centre into a rehabilitation centre.
The day was observed across the state which has a sizeable Buddhist population.
In Itanagar, governor Brig. (retd) B.D. Mishra attended Buddha Purnima celebration at Theravada Buddha Vihara.
He also inaugurated a blood donation initiative jointly organised by the Arunachal Vivekananda Yuva Shakti, Arunachal Voluntary Blood Donor Organization and Indian Red Cross Society, Arunachal Pradesh state branch. The governor said Buddha's messages on peace, knowledge, non-violence, uplift of the downtrodden and freedom from superstitious were promoters of modern welfare societies.
He said Buddha's path to liberation, which include practise of moral conduct, mental discipline and wisdom, were promoters of human deliverance. He said his association with Buddhism had started at an early age.
Quoting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the governor said India is blessed to have given to the world the invaluable gift of Buddhism.
Former minister P.W. Sona and Sahitya Akademi awardee Y.D. Thongchi were among those who attended the festival.
