“For years, warnings have been issued about this possibility. Activists, journalists, and even some officials pointed out that drugs were no longer confined to Goa’s nightlife economy. They were finding their way into student circles, aided by easy access and weak enforcement. Today, with another young life cut short, the fear has materialised. Goa’s students are paying with their lives while the state’s authorities remain either unwilling or unable to break the networks of supply.
The police have long spoken of their efforts to crack down on drug peddlers, yet their failure is visible to anyone who cares to look.”
The Randox test results confirming the presence of narcotics and sedatives such as ecstasy, MDMA, and amphetamines in samples from a student of BITS Pilani’s Goa campus have ripped apart the illusion that educational institutions are safe from the state’s drug menace. A student’s death in these circumstances is not just a private tragedy for the family. It is evidence that the drug trade, once associated with Goa’s beaches and rave parties, has now invaded the classrooms of one of India’s most prestigious institutes.
For years, warnings have been issued about this possibility. Activists, journalists, and even some officials pointed out that drugs were no longer confined to Goa’s nightlife economy. They were finding their way into student circles, aided by easy access and weak enforcement. Today, with another young life cut short, the fear has materialised. Goa’s students are paying with their lives while the state’s authorities remain either unwilling or unable to break the networks of supply.
The police have long spoken of their efforts to crack down on drug peddlers, yet their failure is visible to anyone who cares to look. If narcotics can be consumed on a university campus, then what confidence should citizens have that the police can stop their circulation elsewhere? Worse, this is not the first time a BITS Pilani Goa student has died in circumstances linked to substance abuse. Parents of current students deserve a clear answer: is this the fifth such death, or the sixth? Silence and vagueness will not do.
That this is happening in BITS Pilani Goa makes the matter even more alarming. This is a premier institution that attracts some of the brightest students in the country. If the administration cannot ensure a safe environment here, what hope is there for less resourced campuses? University managements cannot pretend that their only responsibility is academic. They are custodians of young people, many living away from home for the first time. Drug peddling and abuse are threats they must actively anticipate and prevent. Where are the safety protocols, counselling systems, or confidential reporting mechanisms that could save lives? If these are missing or ineffective, the institute itself bears responsibility.
But the crisis goes beyond one campus. It is about a state that has allowed the drug trade to entrench itself so deeply that even students are not spared. Goa’s image as a carefree tourist destination has long been sustained on a darker foundation of narcotics and trafficking. For decades, the state has been accused of looking the other way. Now, that complacency has led us here: young Indians, far from home, experimenting with substances that end up killing them. The nightmare is no longer a warning. It is reality.
The way forward demands urgency and honesty. The Goa police must stop hiding behind token arrests and raids that do little to disturb the larger nexus of suppliers and enablers. There must be accountability for why peddlers are able to reach students with ease. Educational institutions must take preventive action that goes beyond slogans, with awareness drives, peer support, and mental health services to protect vulnerable students. And the government must abandon its habit of congratulating itself on “crime detection” when lives are slipping away under its watch.
The death of one student should have been enough to trigger reform. If five or six deaths cannot wake the system, then it is not negligence anymore. It is a collective collapse of responsibility. Goa’s nightmare has come true. The only question is whether its leaders, law enforcers, and institutions are prepared to confront it before more young lives are lost.
