The launch marked the beginning of a coordinated mobilisation across the state. As the state-level programme commenced, the Toofan flag was raised in local bodies throughout Kerala, and everyone present at the venue was declared a Toofan Warrior.
Addressing the gathering, Chennithala described Toofan Thaddesham as a grassroots movement against drugs and emphasised the central role of women, particularly mothers, in identifying and addressing substance abuse within families and communities.
“The biggest strength in this fight is the participation of our mothers and sisters,” he said. “A mother is the first to notice when something changes in her child. That is why mothers will play a decisive role in this people's movement. Mahatma Gandhi dreamt of Gram Swaraj: villages strong enough to govern and protect themselves. That is what we are building against drugs. Every ward will become its own first line of defence. It is time for every one of us to say, ‘Njan ente naadinte kaavalaal’: I am the guardian of my land.”
Toofan Thaddesham is designed around a two-tier structure intended to extend the anti-drug campaign to every household in Kerala through local committees and ward-level people's assemblies.
At the local-body level, 1,034 Toofan Jagratha Samithis will be established across the state's 941 grama panchayats, 87 municipalities and 6 corporations. Each committee will be headed by the respective panchayat president, municipal chairperson or mayor. The local Station House Officer, local-body secretary and elected representatives will also be members. These committees will plan, coordinate and monitor anti-drug activities within their respective areas.
The second tier will comprise Toofan Janasabhas in every ward. Led by the ward member or councillor, these people's assemblies will bring together residents, enrolled Toofan Warriors, Kudumbashree members, ASHA workers, Haritha Karma Sena members, rural employment scheme workers, residents' associations and local volunteers. Their responsibilities will include taking the anti-drug message to every family, conducting awareness sessions and maintaining vigilance within neighbourhoods.
Ward volunteers will receive training through audio-visual modules covering five areas: the medical, social and economic harm caused by drugs, rehabilitation, and the law and safety.
At the community level, the Janasabhas will organise awareness classes involving doctors and local police officers, conduct follow-up programmes in schools, arrange special parent-teacher association (PTA) meetings and convene Toofan neighbourhood group meetings. They will also monitor areas around schools and residential neighbourhoods and help people struggling with addiction access treatment through rehabilitation and palliative care centres.
The programme includes a review mechanism to assess implementation at different levels. Ward and local-body committees will review their work every month, while the state-level review will take place every quarter.
The stated objective is to make every Keralite a Toofan Warrior and transform Kerala into a ‘lahari-mukta desham’, or a drug-free land. By placing local institutions, community volunteers and neighbourhood networks at the centre of the initiative, Toofan Thaddesham seeks to establish a coordinated, community-led response to drug-related harm across the state.
Industries Minister P.K. Kunhalikutty presided over the inauguration, while Local Self-Government Minister K.M. Shaji delivered the welcome address. Dr. Divya S. Iyer, Principal Director of the Local Self-Government Department, administered the anti-drug pledge.
Operation Toofan was launched by Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala on 2 June 2026 as Kerala's flagship anti-narcotics mission. The initiative rests on three pillars: Toofan Strike, focused on enforcement; Toofan Warriors, centred on student and community mobilisation, which has reached over 1 lakh school children in person; and Toofan Care, dedicated to treatment and rehabilitation.
Since its launch, the mission has expanded into an interstate coordination effort across South India. With the introduction of Toofan Thaddesham, Kerala is extending the campaign beyond enforcement and awareness initiatives by establishing a structured network of local committees, ward assemblies and community volunteers to strengthen the grassroots response to drugs.
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