MY Bharat Deepotsav Draws 1.19 Lakh Youth in Week 8 Drive

Mera Yuva Bharat, the autonomous body for youth engagement under the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports and known as MY Bharat, tied the Diwali season to its anti-drug drive on 6 and 7 November 2026. Two activities were run side by side across the country: Nasha Mukt Yuva Deepotsav - Ek Diya Sankalp Ka, and Nasha Mukt Yuva Par Paricharcha, held through Neighbourhood Youth Parliaments. Together they brought in more than 1.19 lakh young people and other citizens from 30 States and Union Territories, with participants taking a pledge for a drug-free India.

The campaign it belongs to

Both activities formed Week 8 of the Nasha Mukt Yuva for Viksit Bharat 100-Week Sankalp Abhiyan, a long drive that keeps a weekly theme running on drug-free living so that youth engagement does not stop with a single event.

Deepotsav by the numbers

The lamp-lighting leg was the larger of the two.

Rangoli making, lighting of diyas, distribution of sweets, awareness talks and the felicitation of MY Bharat volunteers filled the two days. Partner organisations took part as well, among them Brahma Kumaris, EPSI and Heartfulness. In Uttar Pradesh the celebration ran with volunteers in Lucknow, sweets and fruit went to an old-age home in Banda, and awareness work was done in Rampur. Chhattisgarh saw Deepotsav and rangoli in Mungeli and Dhamtari, and Himachal Pradesh at an old-age home in Kangra. Yavatmal in Maharashtra, Yanam in Puducherry and Jammu and Kashmir held their own events.

What the Youth Parliaments did

The Paricharcha leg, run at block level through Neighbourhood Youth Parliaments or NYPs, recorded 85 programmes and 298 activities with 9,526 participants. Each NYP was designed to reach at least 80 young people in a block through four structured sessions: a briefing on the MY Bharat portal; Understanding Substance Abuse, Challenges before India's Youth; From Awareness to Action, Tools for a Nasha Mukt Yuva; and an audio-visual presentation called Stories of Change, The Journey Towards a Nasha Mukt Bharat. Slogan writing, rangoli, street plays, interactive sessions and pledge-taking went along with the discussions, at places such as Bhuna in Fatehabad district of Haryana, Latur in Maharashtra, East Delhi and Dongargarh block in Chhattisgarh.