National Awards for Prevention of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse: Best Educational Institution

What is this award?

The National Awards for Outstanding Services in the field of Prevention of Alcoholism and Substance (Drug) Abuse is a scheme of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. According to the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment, the scheme was notified in 2012 to give national recognition to individuals and institutions that make outstanding contributions to the prevention of alcoholism and drug abuse and to the rehabilitation of affected persons.

The award is given across several categories covering NGOs, institutions, professionals and community workers. This guide covers one specific category: Best Educational Institution doing outstanding work in awareness generation and prevention of alcoholism and substance (drug) abuse. It is an institutional recognition for schools, colleges and other educational institutions that run effective anti-addiction awareness and prevention programmes among students and the community.

The awards are linked to the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking on 26 June, the United Nations-designated day, and the national event is typically held around that date.

Who is eligible for the Best Educational Institution award?

An institution can be considered if:

• It is an educational institution. A school, college, university or similar, in India.
• It has done demonstrable, outstanding work in awareness generation and prevention of alcoholism and substance abuse.
• It is nominated by an authorised agency, and the nomination reaches the Ministry through the National Awards Portal within the deadline.

Who cannot apply:

• Individuals cannot apply for a personal benefit under this category, it is meant for institutions. Individual contribution is recognised under separate categories of the same overall scheme.
• Self-nomination is not accepted. An institution cannot nominate itself; it must be put forward by an authorised nominating agency.
• Recent past awardees may be excluded from reconsideration for a fixed number of cycles, as set out in the scheme guidelines.

The scheme is open regardless of religion, race, sex, caste or creed.

Who can nominate, and what is the benefit?

Nominations are made by authorised agencies, which typically include:

• Central and state government departments and union territory administrations.
• Academic and professional councils such as UGC, AICTE, CBSE and NCERT, and universities.
• District Magistrates / District Collectors.
• Recognised national bodies.

The award for this institutional category comprises a citation and a cash award, presented at a national function. The exact cash amount is set in the annual advertisement, so it should be confirmed each cycle rather than assumed from a previous year. (Within the same scheme, institutional categories have historically carried larger cash components than individual categories.)

What documents are required?

How to apply (the nomination route)

Because there is no individual application, the "how to apply" route here is the nomination process:

1. Identify an authorised nominating agency — for example your state education department, university, a District Magistrate, or an academic council such as CBSE or UGC, that can nominate the institution.
2. Prepare the institution's case. A clear record of its awareness and prevention programmes, their reach, and measurable outcomes.
3. Have the nominating agency register and file the nomination on the National Awards Portal (awards.gov.in), selecting this scheme and the Best Educational Institution category, before the announced deadline (commonly around 31 March).
4. Respond to any verification the Ministry seeks during evaluation.

Nominations open only when the cycle's advertisement is issued, so watch the National Awards Portal and the Ministry's site for the current call.

Where to verify

The authoritative sources are the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment (socialjustice.gov.in) scheme page and the National Awards Portal (awards.gov.in), where the official advertisement, categories, cash amounts and deadlines are published for each cycle. Cash amounts and dates should be taken from the current advertisement, not carried over from an earlier year.

This is a genuinely niche recognition scheme with limited standalone material; readers may be served equally well by a section within a broader pillar page on the Ministry's national awards.