Bengaluru: Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) will create a network of student “social media warriors” across Karnataka to spread awareness about drug abuse and promote healthy lifestyles among school and college students. Additionally, it asked all its affiliated colleges, numbering around 1,500, to be active on social media.RGUHS vice-chancellor Bhagavan BC said the university will select students from different colleges in each district and train them to take up awareness campaigns, both online and offline. The initiative is part of the university’s anti-drugs efforts under the Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan.“We want our students to act as social warriors, not only in their colleges but also on social media, reaching out to the public. The reach is high on social media, and we want to capitalise on it. We want to train a few people, who already have a good reach and are interested in creating content,” the VC said.The trained students will visit pre-university colleges and schools to educate students, particularly those aged 15 and above, about substance abuse, the ways in which youth are targeted, and the need to stay away from drugs. The campaign will also focus on promoting a healthy lifestyle as well as spread the message on drug abuse.The university recently conducted a workshop involving around 150 students to assess their interest and understand the challenges involved. According to the VC, while several students were keen to participate, not all were comfortable with social media or travelling to educational institutions for awareness programmes. “Some are interested in talking to students, while others are interested only in social media. We are trying to utilise both,” he said.The university also plans to encourage students who already have a social media presence to use their platforms for the campaign, while helping other interested students build their social media engagement.Varsity Asks Colleges To Be Active On Social MediaNoting that the university has made “significant progress” in strengthening its official social media presence, with the convocation programme touching 6 lakh users, the varsity has asked all its affiliated colleges to actively support its digital presence.In the instructions provided to colleges, they were directed to follow, like and share RGUHS official social media handles. The varsity also encouraged the colleges to circulate official posts through their respective college social media platforms. Faculty members, students and institutional pages should also be encouraged to engage with official content. All communications must ensure sharing of only verified and official RGUHS content, it said.“As a token of appreciation, RGUHS will recognise colleges that actively engage with our official social media through regular follows, likes and shares,” the varsity’s instructions stated. Certificates of appreciation will be issued, and participating colleges may be recognised on the university’s website, the VC said, adding that the structure of the programme will be finalised within the next one to two weeks.
