Srinagar, Sept. 21 -- By Sudhansh Pant

The scene is known to anyone who has lived in a college hostel or stood at an office party.

A substance goes from hand to hand, a friendly voice says the others are already doing it, and a moment opens in which a young person weighs the embarrassment of refusing against the discomfort of standing apart.

The Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan starts from the belief that addiction often begins in that moment, less as a decision than as the fear of being left out.

That puts the campaign's focus in a place no enforcement agency can reach.

The person giving the substance is often a friend, and the pressure can feel like a way of fitting in.

The Abhiyaan, launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 15 August...