Parties beware! Lure of liquor won’t work here

Hubballi: With liquor set to flow freely in the Council and panchayat polls, people of several villages in Kundagol taluk are up in arms against such inducements being offered by candidates. 

 

They have decided to ban liquor sale after women self- help groups raised the banner of revolt against the misbehavior of drunkards. They have imposed Rs 10,000 fine if anybody is found violating the ban order and have  offered Rs 5,000 reward to informers. They claim a peaceful atmosphere prevails in the villages after the gram panchayat imposed a ban by joining hands with excise officials. 

 

The move was first initiated by Kalasa village which has 9,000 people. Illicit liquor is being  sold at 12 grocery shops in the village. Due to this, women, most of them daily wage earners, had to bear with their drunkard husbands who used to spend half their daily wages each night on alcohol. Later, people of the adjacent Sanklipur, Sultanpur and Harlapur villages imposed a similar ban and a hefty fine. 

 

“Our village is devastated by recurring drought forcing the poor to migrate to other cities. Men used to spend their hard-earned money on liquor, forcing their wives and children to starve. Therefore, we have imposed the ban keeping the health of the men in mind as liquor will flow like water in the coming elections. We have decided not to vote for candidates who distribute liquor to lure voters,” Kalasa Gram Panchayat president Nasir Ahmed Khatalsabnavar said.