AIADMK not to be cowed down by Panneerselvam’s revolt: Sasikala

February 8, 2017

Chennai, Feb 8: Faced with a revolt from O Panneerselvam, AIADMK General Secretary VK Sasikala on Wednesday said she had got wind of his moves a few days ago itself and asserted that the party remains united and will not be cowed down by such threats. Sasikala said “betrayal” will never win in the AIADMK and blamed arch rival DMK for trying to destabilise her party.

The opposition so far unseen but emerging now was a proof that “certain developments our rivals don’t desire are happening in the party,” she said in an apparent reference to her elevation.

“That is why there is this flutter. Neither AIADMK nor me will be cowed down by this,” she told a meeting of party MLAs convened here to discuss the situation arising out of Panneerselvam’s revolt against her last night.

Sasikala said she had noticed “Panneerselvam joining hands with DMK following their conversation in the Assembly,” recently and added that she said duty bound to prevent the next course of action from happening, apparently referring to a revolt.

She referred to the remark of Deputy DMK Leader Durai Murugan who had last week in the Assembly favoured Panneerselvam to continue as Chief Minister for the rest of the term of the current government, i.e till 2021.

“Panneerselvam not saying anything on this and his silence showed clearly that he had joined hands with DMK. His act had also infuriated the Ministers,” she said.

However, responding to Panneerselvam’s charge last night on Ministers speaking against him and that she had not taken action against them, the party chief said she had actually pulled them up, giving him his due respect.

She recalled she was “not in the frame of mind” to accept the leadership of AIADMK following Jayalalithaa’s demise, although Panneerselvam was one of the proponents of the idea.

Referring to Panneerselvam’s political career, Sasikala said he had been part of the AIADMK Janaki (MGR’s widow) team following the death of the founder MG Ramachandran, before switching over to Jayalalithaa camp.

Jayalalithaa had ‘forgiven’ this and provided him with various opportunities (in the party and government), she added.

“Our rivals are showing their true face. We will prove our might to them. No one has the power or capacity to split or break us. I will solve the confusion arising in people’s minds at the right time,” she said.

Sasikala said “betrayal will never win, especially in AIADMK.”

“All these years, I have lived for Amma and would spend the rest of the life fulfilling her dreams,” she said.

“For 33 years, how many happenings, how many shocks. I have faced the many betrayals along with Amma. We had won those, we will win this,” she said.

Many had aided DMK’s “conspiracy” she said while referring to Panneerselvam who last night raised a banner of revolt after meditating at Jayalalithaa’s memorial at the Marina.

At today’s meeting, Sasikala also said that AIADMK’s rivals were “grouping.”

“They come in the form of betrayals also. The party will not fear these,” she said, invoking MGR’s legacy to face the situation with grit.

“Even if betrayal and rivalry join hands, we will defeat them,” she said.

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Average age of school children picking up drugs, smoking habit in 10 Indian cities around 13 years!

News Network

December 13,2025

New Delhi: School-going children are picking up drug and smoking habits and engaging in consumption of alcohol, with the average age of introduction to such harmful substances found to be around 13 years, suggesting a need for earlier interventions as early as primary school, a multi-city survey by AIIMS-Delhi said.

The findings also showed substance use increased in higher grades, with grade XI/XII students two times more likely to report use of substances when compared with grade VIII students. This emphasised the importance of continued prevention and intervention through middle and high school.

The study led by Dr Anju Dhawan of AIIMS's National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre, published in the National Medical Journal of India this month, looks at adolescent substance use across diverse regions.

The survey included 5,920 students from classes 8, 9, 11 and 12 in urban government, private and rural schools across 10 cities -- Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Delhi, Dibrugarh, Hyderabad, Imphal, Jammu, Lucknow, Mumbai, and Ranchi. The data were collected between May 2018 and June 2019.

The average age of initiation for any substance was 12.9 (2.8) years. It was lowest for inhalants (11.3 years) followed by heroin (12.3 years) and opioid pharmaceuticals (without prescription; 12.5 years).

Overall, 15.1 per cent of participants reported lifetime use, 10.3 per cent reported past year use, and 7.2 per cent reported use in the past month of any substance, the study found.

The most common substances used in the past year, after tobacco (4 per cent) and alcohol (3.8 per cent), were opioids (2.8 per cent), followed by cannabis (2 per cent) and inhalants (1.9 per cent). Use of non-prescribed pharmaceutical opioids was most common among opioid users (90.2 per cent).

On being asked, 'Do you think this substance is easily available for a person of your age' separately for each substance category, nearly half the students (46.3 per cent) endorsed that tobacco products and more than one-third of the students (36.5 per cent) agreed that a person of their age can easily procure alcohol products.

Similarly, for Bhang (21.9 per cent), ganja/charas (16.1 per cent), inhalants (15.2 per cent), sedatives (13.7 per cent), opium and heroin (10 per cent each), the students endorsed that these can be easily procured.

About 95 per cent of the children, irrespective of their grade, agreed with the statement that 'drug use is harmful'.

The rates of substance use (any) among boys were significantly higher than those of girls for substance use (ever), use in the past year and use in the past 30 days. Compared to grade VIII students, grade IX students were more likely, and grade XI/XII students were twice as likely to have used any substance (ever).

The likelihood of past-year use of any substance was also higher for grade IX students and for grade XI/XII students as compared to grade VIII students.

About 40 per cent of students mentioned that they had a family member who used tobacco or alcohol each. The use of cannabis (any product) and opioid (any product) by a family member was reported by 8.2 per cent and 3.9 per cent of students, respectively, while the use of other substances, such as inhalants/sedatives by family was 2-3 per cent, the study found.

A relatively smaller percentage of students reported use of tobacco or alcohol among peers as compared to among family members, while a higher percentage reported inhalants, sedatives, cannabis or opioid use among peers.

Children using substances (past year) compared to non-users reported significantly higher any substance use by their family members and peers.

There were 25.7 per cent students who replied 'yes' to the question 'conflicts/fights often occur in your family'. Most students also replied affirmatively to 'family members are aware of how their time is being spent' and 'damily members are aware of with whom they spend their time'.

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