Cricket tournament to bowl out drugs – Times of India

Kochi: The Ernakulam rural police are taking an innovative swing at combating youth drug abuse: An IPL-style cricket tournament. The initiative, with teams comprising both police officers and school and college students, is not just about hitting boundaries and taking wickets; it’s about building bridges, fostering trust, and promoting a healthy, drug-free lifestyle.The tournament finale is scheduled for June 26, which is recognized globally as the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking. “We have 34 police stations in the rural limits and each station will have a team. Each team will have four police personnel and the remaining players will be students. The initiative will provide a platform for good interaction between police and the public. There will be an exchange of information and awareness,” said district police chief (Ernakulam rural) Vaibhav Saxena.The bond formed during the tournament is intended to continue beyond the matches and a WhatsApp group will be set up for the team members.“There are many who fear the police. But sports bring people together like anything. We see the amount of comradery between players in an IPL team. Similarly, when the police and these youths play together and go through a tournament, we expect a similar bonding to happen. The initiative also aims to promote fitness. Instead of drugs, sports and fitness should become an addiction,” said a police officer.The tournament is also aimed at reducing the stress of policemen. “It would be a healthy competition with proper knockout matches. All teams would begin the matches by taking an oath against drugs. If it is successful, we will also hold similar tournaments in other sports every two or three months. It would also give some relaxation and fitness training to the policemen,” said the police officer.Additionally, the rural police plan to conduct sports tournaments within schools under their jurisdiction through the Student Police Cadet (SPC) nodal officers as part of the anti-drug campaign. “Strict instructions have been given to conduct searches in shops near schools. In schools, addiction starts with things like toffees which go by the name Cool. This stuff also needs to be targeted since children cannot develop a dependence on things like that as it may prompt them to try harder stuff. We are monitoring such toffees as well,” said an officer.

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