There are many interesting facts associated with the government’s efforts to check spurious liquor manufacture and distribution, but none which talks of successfully weaning away tipplers from it.
Though the new Excise Policy of the government envisages control of the deadly gudumba (local brew illicitly made), there is less likelihood of success being achieved as various factors, not just poverty, influence the sale of the brew in the impoverished sections of the society.
The currently sold cheap liquor through the State Beverages Corporation itself was introduced over two decades ago to curb the menace of illicitly distilled liquor (IDL). As this liquor has become dearer, sold between Rs. 40 and Rs. 60 per nip, the government plans to bring an ‘affordable’ variety of liquor to be sold tentatively at Rs. 30 per quarter bottle.
“This may not work because that liquor will still be costly and will certainly not have the kind of ‘kick’ that gudumba has,” summed up Kolam tribal Kodapa Bapu Rao from Markaguda in Indervelli mandal in Adilabad district, a self-confessed consumer of the IDL. Incidentally, Indervelli mandal headquarter is an important hub of manufacture and sale of gudumba , which is on the radar of the Excise and Police departments.
“The government should have included creating awareness on the ill effects of gudumba consumption in its Grama Jyothi programme,” opined Dipak Singh Shekhawat, Adilabad district president of BJP Kisan Morcha, who is involved in control of IDL at social level in Indervelli.
“The government should encourage the Adivasis to make traditional mahua liquor, a practice discontinued by them since a decade or so,” he suggests a measure to wean away tribals from consumption of the illicit liquor.
“Rural people are more prone to alcohol addiction because of availability of ‘affordable’ varieties,” stated M. Dattu, Indian Medical Association, Adilabad president . “There is nothing which can be called ‘safe’ liquor unless the percentage of alcohol in it is much below the prescribed standards,” he added.
Over the years, the rate of consumption of liquor in Adilabad district has grown beyond imagination, which is not an encouraging factor if the government wants its citizens, especially those from the working class, to enjoy good health. The increase in the incidence neither matches the growth of population nor the poverty in the district.
