Excelsior Correspondent
A decade ago, when concern over the growing drug menace in Jammu was largely confined to discussions among law enforcement agencies, journalists, and socially conscious citizens, a small initiative took shape with a clear mission-to protect the region’s youth from the scourge of substance abuse. That initiative eventually evolved into Team Jammu, an organization that has since become a prominent force in the fight against drugs.
What started as a grassroots youth movement relied on simple yet impactful activities such as bike rallies, seminars, awareness exhibitions, nukkad nataks and gram sabhas. These programmes helped carry the anti-drug message beyond urban centres and into villages, schools and communities across the region.
As the challenge of drug abuse intensified, Team Jammu steadily expanded its reach and influence. The organization earned the trust of families affected by addiction and forged strong partnerships with social groups, law enforcement agencies and government institutions working to curb the menace.
Over the years, Team Jammu led by journalist-turned-social activist Zorawar Singh Jamwal, has grown into a respected pressure group that not only raises awareness but also contributes to policy-level discussions. Its suggestions and ground-level feedback have helped shape strategies aimed at preventing drug abuse and rehabilitating affected youth.
Beyond advocacy, the organization remains deeply engaged with the community. Through sports events, cultural programmes and youth engagement initiatives, Team Jammu seeks to channel the energy of young people towards constructive pursuits.
By encouraging healthy lifestyles and a stronger connection with local culture and values, it continues to strengthen society’s collective resistance to the drug menace and the challenges posed by forces seeking to exploit vulnerable youth.
In Jammu’s public life, few figures have transformed their role as visibly as Zorawar Singh Jamwal. Once associated with journalism, Jamwal moved from reporting issues to directly intervening in them, building a grassroots platform that has, over the last decade, placed itself at the centre of one of Jammu’s most pressing social concerns – the growing menace of drug abuse among youth.
Jamwal heads Team Jammu, an organisation that began as a pressure group raising issues concerning Jammu region but gradually evolved into a campaign-driven social body. While the group initially focused on regional concerns and governance matters, its most visible and sustained work has been in the fight against narcotics and addiction. Jamwal, a journalist-turned-social activist, formally launched a major anti-drug campaign under the Team Jammu banner and steadily turned it into a mass movement.
Those close to the movement say Jamwal recognised early that drug abuse was no longer an isolated problem but a social emergency affecting colleges, neighbourhoods and rural pockets alike. At a time when the issue did not receive the level of civic attention it does today, Team Jammu began organising public meetings, awareness drives and delegations to officials, warning that addiction was destroying families and pushing young people towards ruin.
Over the years, Team Jammu’s office in Shakti Nagar became a hub for student interactions, volunteer meetings and anti-drug mobilisation campaigns. Students from colleges and universities were encouraged to participate in awareness programmes, with Jamwal repeatedly stating that youth themselves must lead the fight against addiction.
The organisation’s strategy has combined public mobilisation with pressure on authorities. It has organised rallies, bike processions, press conferences and signature campaigns, while also submitting memorandums to the administration and police seeking tougher action against smugglers and peddlers.
Jamwal’s language on the issue has often been uncompromising. He has demanded strict punishment for those involved in narcotics trade, insisting that drug peddlers are destroying society from within. He has repeatedly urged political parties and lawmakers to rise above differences and treat the issue as a common social battle.
At the same time, his campaign has not been limited to punishment alone. Jamwal has consistently argued for a broader response involving parents, teachers, mohalla committees, panchayats and religious institutions. He has often spoken about discipline, moral values and community vigilance as long-term safeguards against addiction.
Supporters view him as one of the earliest and most persistent civic voices warning Jammu about narcotics. Critics may differ with his style or rhetoric, but few deny that he helped push the drug menace into mainstream public discourse.
For a former journalist, it has been an unusual transition – from covering society’s problems to leading a campaign against one of its gravest threats. In Jammu’s streets, campuses and civic spaces, that second career has come to define Zorawar Singh Jamwal’s public identity.
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