GTECH to Organize Marathon to Raise Awareness of Drug Abuse

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:
Group of Technology Companies (GTECH), the industry body of IT companies in Kerala, is organizing the biggest and the most high profile marathon ever planned in the state capital on March 19, seeking to impart greater momentum to the ‘No to Drugs’ campaign rolled out by the Government of Kerala.

Over 2,500 runners from all walks of life, irrespective of age, geography, gender or fitness levels, are expected to participate in the marathon. IT professionals from all major companies – TCS, Infosys, Wipro, Cognizant, IBS Software, Tata Elxsi, Quest, Allianz, UST, EY – as well as from medium and small companies across Technopark, Infopark and Cyberpark will form part of the marathon. Students from some of the leading colleges will also turn up in large numbers.

GTECH has as its members over 300 IT companies comprising of 80% of the IT professionals in the state. The fitness challenge will see three categories of timed runs -3 kms, 10 kms and 21 kms.

“Drugs and substance abuse is a menace to the society we live in, devastating a significant number of people and their families across the world. Sadly, Kerala is also a victim of this huge public health concern with a four-fold increase in drug related cases in the last few years”, said VK Mathews, Chairman of GTECH.

“As a socially responsible community, we, the IT professionals of Kerala under the aegis of GTECH, are committed to emerging social causes. The marathon is a reflection of this commitment. We will roll out other activities in all the IT parks of Kerala to sensitize the public the need to make Kerala narcotic free,” Mathews added.

The marathon will help create an increased public awareness about the prevalence of drugs abuse in Kerala and its ill effects, especially among young boys and girls, by complementing the ‘No to Drugs’ campaign launched by the State Government.

Participation in the marathon is open to the public; however prior registration is mandatory which can be done through – Registration link : https://registrations.indiarunning.com/gtech-marathon-2023.