Mangaluru: Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Government of Karnataka Mr Dinesh Gundu Rao addressed the student body of the Father Muller Charitable Institutions on the observance of International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking on 23 June 2023. The packed Father Muller Convention Centre saw around 1900 faculty and students committing themselves to avoid using drugs and helping those who are addicted in seeking help.
The educational units of FMCI, Father Muller Medical College; Father Muller College of Allied Sciences; Father Muller Homoeopathic Medical College Hospital; Father Muller College of Nursing and School of Nursing; Father Muller College (Speech & Hearing) and Father Muller Nursing College-Thumbay participated in the awareness programme. The theme-“People first: stop stigma and discrimination, strengthen prevention “reverberated in the speeches and cultural events.
Rev. Fr Richard Aloysius Coelho, Director FMCI welcomed the audience and briefed on the chief guest and Guest of Honour. He said ‘There is a saying that anything in moderation is good, but there are some things that is not required to be taken to keep our health. We should realise that liberty or freedom or one’s personal right if missed used causes HARM to people around them. To grow fruit, it takes many a determinant that can alter and make conditions to bear fruit. What I want to convey is that ‘it takes a whole village to raise a child’ and if a child is lost it has an impact on the foundation of the nation. Never as an individual put yourself right in the garb of freedom but in a moral philosophy of AUTONOMY, that is, the capacity of a person to act in accordance with objective morality rather than under the influence of desires.’
Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao in his address said that ‘Mangalore being an educational city and influx of students from various places the multiculturalism and unity should be upheld and students need to understand that drugs are a menace to the society. Even if one believes that “one try” is no harm or a “little” would do nothing, it will lead to serious consequences for one’s self. With every situation, one should be cautious and observant. He also stressed the need for ‘brain retention’, i.e.; that students come to Mangalore for study and thereafter leave for the Metropolitan cities. Thus his priority as the District incharge would be to expand the industrial sector in Mangalore, keeping peace among people and creating job opportunities so that the city grows for the betterment of all.
District Commissioner of Mangalore M.P. Mullai Muhilan administered the pledge of anti-drug abuse to the audience, following which the honourable minister was symbolically felicitated as a mark of respect and love from FMCI.
Administrator FMMC Fr Ajith B. Menezes, who was the Chief Architect of the programme guided every beat of the event. Dr Hareesh Gowda, Professor and Head of Forensic Medicine proposed the vote of thanks, and the programme was eloquently and meticulously compared by Dr Shivashankara A R, the professor in Biochemistry at Father Muller Medical College.
The formal programme was followed by a cultural programme- a singing performance by Professional singer Jason Lobo accompanied by Wilton Fernandes, faculty of Father Muller College of Speech and Hearing; Clarita Lobo, MSc Nursing student rocked the stage with her Bollywood hit; Duo Leon Lobo and Shubhan Shetty, third-year MBBS student sang a mesmerizing number; Reeshal Pinto, a student of Speech and Hearing College was the next entertainer; To depict the menace of drug abuse, the staff of FMMCH presented a skit with dance; among many other performances.
