No.40 (May-June 1987) 29

an interior area or on one of the mainroads, a licence will sell for anythingfrom a lakh to a crore rupees. The saleof licences alone brings in an incomeequivalent to about Rs 100 per personin the state, which indicates howlucrative a business it is both for thegovernment and for the businessmen.

Before the increase in official saleof desi liquor, there was a strongtradition of brewing liquor in thevillages. This continues to thepresent day, but has never incitedliquor consumption on the scale atwhich it now exists. The brew wastraditionally made from distilled,fermented gur, and would be usedespecially for weddings and otherfestivals, selling at about Rs 10 abottle. There have been the inevitabledeaths from it, but the local womensay : “It was never the problem thatthe shop selling desi liquor is. Peopletended to drink less, and less often.”

What are the effects of thisincreasing availability of liquor ? The2,000 women who attended themeeting at Jagjitnagar on February 23,1986, were very clear about itsnegative impact. After an introductoryspeech by the director of SUTRA,they came to the microphone to sharetheir experiences. As one womansuccinctly put it : “Our villages haveno proper roads, poor water supplyand irregular electricity, and yet theyhave a liquor shop. Where do thisgovernment’s priorities lie ?” By theend of the meeting it was clear thatthe women did not feel that thegovernment was concerned aboutthem.

They were also critical of the men.“Our men go to market to sellvegetables or spend their daysworking on the roads but what do weever see of the money ? It all goes onliquor long before they reach home inthe evening. When they do comeback, drunk, they beat the children andthen complain that there is no foodfor the evening meal. Where can we

get food if there is no money in thehouse?” The women go hungry as dothe children, and inevitably, thegrowing drunkenness has led to adramatic increase in the amount ofviolence against women, somethingthey are reluctant to admit as they feelit reflects on their ability to play the

“Our villages have no proper roads, water supply or electricity, yet theyhave liquor shops. Where do this government’s priorities lie ?”

role of good wife and mother. It isbecoming more openly acknowledgedas women realise they are not alonein this situation.

Violence grows not only within

the home but also outside it andalthough the incidence of directassault outside the home is very low,there is a growing amount of eveteasing and hassling of women whichis building such a fear psychosis in

women that they are afraid to go outof their homes after dark. No womanwill willingly return home by the lastbus of the evening as it is alwayscrowded with drunken men from thedriver and conductor down. On theone hand, women’s freedom to movearound without fear in their home

villages has been destroyed and onthe other hand, there is increasingpressure on women to finish their fieldand domestic work during daylighthours.

The economic costs of liquorconsumption for a family are high. Abottle of desi liquor costs in the regionof Rs 28. Since the minimum dailywages paid to labourers is Rs 12, it isobvious that liquor is a commodity

—SU

TR

A