A year after a massive mobilisation of rural women demanding prohibition, Raichur is getting set for a bigger gathering on Sunday, but this time with a new focus, with elections about six months away.
The 40,000 women expected to gather at Raichur will make a specific demand to political parties to include prohibition in their manifestos. The slogan of Sunday’s rally, led by by Grameena Kooli Karmikara Sanghatane, a rural labourers’ organisation, will be: “Our vote is for those who implement prohibition”.
“We have invited representatives of the Congress, BJP and JD(S) to the conference,” says Abhay Kumar, a leader of sanghatane.
To expand the support base, the organisers have been making efforts to rope in religious heads with influence in the region. The heads of Chitradurga Mutt, Sirigere Mutt, Koppal Gavisiddha Mutt, Adichunchanagiri Mutt, and others have reportedly expressed willingness to participate in the movement. Several prominent personalities, including Medha Patkar, a leader of Nasha Mukt Bharat movement, is going to participate in the rally.
Expansion plans
Madya Nishedha Andolana, a State-level platform of 34 organisations that emerged after last year’s agitation, is making efforts to expand the anti-liquor movement across the State. It has organised activities in 18 districts in the last one year. Prominent among them is the decentralised agitations at district headquarters on Mahatma Gandhi’s death anniversary this year demanding that the government either remove portraits of Gandhi from its offices or to implement prohibition.
“Alcoholism is more serious than unemployment, illiteracy, poverty and other problems. It’s spoiling peace in families and pushing them to impoverishment. It’s also weakening people’s movement for livelihood and rights that we had built years of hardships,” says Mokshamma, a leader of Navajeevana Mahila Okkoota, a rural women’s organisation affiliated to the movement.
Pointing to the overwhelming response that the movement is receiving, Vidya Patil, another leader, said hardships caused by alcoholism was pushing victims, particularly women, to the movement.
Money spent
“Liquor companies earn around ₹60,000 crore from sale of liquor in the State every year and most of this comes from the pockets of the poor.... the government spends ₹4,000 on Anna Bhagya scheme for feeding the poor. If liquor is banned, the entire sum would remain with the people and there would be no need of free ration,” argued Mr. Kumar.
