SDG 3: Good Health & Well-being | SDG 4: Quality Education
Institutions: Ministry of Education | Ministry of Health & Family Welfare
On 9 October 2025, the Government of India will launch “Tobacco Free Youth Campaign 3.0 (TFYC 3.0)”, a 60-day national drive to promote tobacco-free learning environments across schools, colleges, and vocational institutions. The campaign is a joint initiative of the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, reinforcing the government’s commitment to a tobacco-free generation under the Viksit Bharat @ 2047 vision.
Tobacco use remains a critical public health challenge, claiming over 1.3 million lives annually in India. The Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS-2019) reported that 8.4 % of students aged 13–15 are current users, with average initiation around 10 years.
Key Components of TFYC 3.0 include:
Enforcing tobacco-free premises at educational institutions by adhering to ToFEI (Tobacco-Free Educational Institutions) guidelines.
Capacity building for teachers, school leaders, and student volunteers (e.g. NSS/NCC) to lead awareness and prevention efforts.
Counselling & cessation support for students already using tobacco or other substances.
Community engagement, including campaigns around 100-yard tobacco-free zones, competitions for creative awareness, and media outreach via MyGov and educational platforms.
By targeting early prevention and building youth resilience, TFYC 3.0 aims to embed health-conscious behaviour in educational institutions, reduce future disease burden, and align public health goals with the education system’s reach.
What is the Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS-2019)? → The GYTS is a school-based global surveillance survey jointly developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) under the Global Tobacco Surveillance System. In India, it is implemented by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) through the International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS), Mumbai.
The 2019 round (GYTS-4 India) covered students aged 13–15 years in 32 States and UTs. It found that 8.5 % of adolescents were current users of tobacco, with an average age of initiation at 10.5 years. The survey monitors youth exposure, cessation behaviour, and policy effectiveness, providing India’s core evidence base for tobacco-control and school-health programmes.
Relevant Question for Policy Stakeholders:
How can India’s education system institutionalise tobacco-free norms so that prevention becomes part of everyday school governance rather than a periodic campaign?
Read the full release here: PIB – Government of India Launches “Tobacco Free Youth Campaign 3.0”
WHO Tobacco Trends Report 2025