Onlykashmir.in News Desk
The Indian Youth Congress on Monday unveiled the poster for “Marathon 2026: For a Drug-Free J&K” at a press conference held at the JKPCC office on M.A. Road in Srinagar, formally launching a campaign that organisers say is aimed at channelling youth energy in Jammu and Kashmir away from substance abuse and towards fitness and civic engagement.
Addressing the media, IYC in-charge for Jammu and Kashmir Maan Singh expressed concern over what he described as rising unemployment and drug abuse among young people in the region, arguing that constructive, fitness-oriented activities offer a meaningful counter to the drift towards narcotics that has troubled several districts of the Union Territory in recent years.
The marathon is scheduled to be held on August 2 at 6 a.m. in Srinagar, with registrations already open and set to continue through the end of July via a QR code and an accompanying Google Form, a format designed to make participation accessible to a tech-savvy younger demographic across the valley.
Organisers have structured the event with separate male and female categories, further divided between participants under 17 years of age and those above that threshold, an arrangement intended to draw in school and college-going youth alongside older participants. A total prize pool of Rs 1 lakh will be distributed among winners across the various categories, while every participant, regardless of placement, will receive a registration certificate, a nod to the campaign’s emphasis on participation over competition alone.
Singh used the platform to call on the administration and law enforcement agencies to intensify action against drug dealers and suppliers operating in Jammu and Kashmir, framing sports and physical activity as tools that can play a meaningful role in steering youth away from substance abuse. The remarks reflect a recurring theme in political discourse across the Union Territory, where the spread of narcotics, particularly among young people in urban centres and border districts, has emerged as a pressing concern for both civil society groups and law enforcement in recent years.
Singh appealed to students, youth and parents to participate in large numbers in support of the campaign, framing the marathon not merely as a sporting event but as a public statement against the normalisation of drug abuse in Kashmiri society. The event’s timing, just ahead of Independence Day, is likely intended to lend it additional symbolic weight as a civic exercise tied to the broader theme of a healthier, drug-free future for the region’s youth.
