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The Makkala Panchayat closes liquor shops in
Keradi Panchayat
Nandrolli is a small
hamlet in Keradi Panchayat of Udupi Taluk, a remote village located on
the Western Ghats in Karnataka, India. It has 75-80 families and a
population of 400 to 450. The village is typically agrarian, cut off
from the advancement of modern technology. It lacks proper roads and
transport, communication systems and other infrastructure.
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Ganesha is 10 years old. He is
a student of class 4. One morning while at school his headmaster,
Mr. Sudhakar Shetty, observed something abnormal about Ganesh. He
went close to Ganesh and as he started talking the headmaster
realized that the boy was drunk. It took a long time for him to find
out why the boy was drunk.
Ganesh’s father had been
forcing the boy to drink alcohol every day, as somebody in the
village told him that alcohol was a good medicine for asthma.
The Headmaster spoke to the
child’s father and convinced him of the ill effects of alcohol
especially on children. The father has stopped giving alcohol to the
boy.
Children’s case study, Jan
2002. |
Alcoholism was a way of
life and a major issue in this Panchayat. Besides licensed vendors,
liquor was sold in vegetable and grocery shops, by cycle and under the
trees and other innovative ways. Though this had come up in various
meetings at the Panchayat and Taluk level, nobody gave it any attention.
The Makkala Panchayat, in the monthly Task Force meetings, pointed out
several times that there were too many arrack (local liquor) shops in
the village. The Panchayat ignored it as some of the shops selling
liquor belonged to the Gram Panchayat who were receiving rental from
them. During the Makkala Gram Sabha in the January 2002, the Makkala
Panchayat raised it again. They identified it not only as an individual
or family problem, but also as a community problem, affecting the entire
village. Prior to coming together for the Gram Sabha meeting the
children had collected several case studies of drunkenness and the
problems caused as a result in the village.
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In a little hamlet
called Mort, in the Keradi Panchayat, a man aged about 40, was very
drunk. His gait was very unbalanced. At night he was walking back
home and had to cross a river. As he crossed the river on the narrow
footbridge, he lost his balance and fell into the river. He began
shouting and luckily some people from the area came running and
rescued him.
Children’s case study, Jan 2002. |
Based on their findings
they analysed why alcoholism was a major issue of concern both for them,
the children and their communities. They said that alcoholism was the
cause of a lot of disharmony and violence at home, loss of income, ‘we
are not able to study at home’, ‘we do not get money for tuition fees,
books and stationery’, in some houses, the children said they do not
even get sufficient food, "we are teased by other children and teachers
say ’your father is an alcoholic". The children analysing the adverse
impact of alcohol, said besides the above, it causes many health
problems, injuries and death, "there is unnecessary expenditure on
medicines and doctors on account of alcoholism, families get into huge
debts, girl children do not get good bridegrooms due to the alcoholism
of family members, etc".
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A person who was travelling by bus from Kundapura
town to his village in Keradi was highly inebriated. When the
conductor came to him to collect the fares, he picked up an argument
with the conductor, saying he had already paid him Rs.100.00 and
that he had to return the balance after deducting the fare. The
conductor tried to convince the alcoholic saying he had not
collected any money from him. The argument got heated and the
co-passengers too began to get annoyed with the drunkard and
supported the conductor. Finally the conductor lost his cool and
pushed the man out of the bus. He had to walk all the way (8
kilometres) home.
Children’s case study, Jan 2002. |
Though the children
presented their findings at the Gram Sabha, it did not move the adult
Panchayat members, nor could they push it strongly as an agenda for
action.
The members of the
Makkala Panchayat raised the issue again in the following Task Force
meeting. But it was brushed aside saying, "What is your problems? Some
people drink; we cannot stop it; we cannot close down the shops because
they have licence from the government; moreover, law does not prohibit
anybody from stocking up to 10 packets of liquor." When the children
were told to produce information about how many people drink and how
much money is spent on it, they could not provide any realistic
information. The adults closed the issue with an advise to children ‘but
you should not drink’.
This was a blow to the
children.
In the following Makkala Panchayat meeting the children decided that
they required a better plan of action. They discussed the adults’ apathy
and the reasons why they were ignoring this issue and decided that the
only way to ‘open their eyes’ was to prove it in monetary terms.
The first step was to
collect actual quantitative information. The children decided that as a
part of their ‘clean the village’ campaign they would get the required
information. They first cleaned up the entire area surrounding the
arrack shops in Nandrolli. Once all the sachets were cleared, they
continued their cleaning activity on a daily basis for the entire week.
Each day they gathered all the empty sachets of arrack near the shops
and counted them. They found that an average of 300 packets of arrack
are consumed per day. Then they made their calculations. A packet of
arrack costs Rs. 11.00. Three hundred packets cost Rs. 3300.00. This
worked out to Rs.99, 000.00 per month and Rs.11, 88,000.00 per year.
This was a huge amount for only a small hamlet with a total population
of about 400 to 450 people.
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Some of the children who were involved in the
collection of information and statistics related to the consumption of
alcohol in the Keradi Panchayat.
Keradi Gram Sabha Meeting – Jan 2002
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From their
previous experience the children knew that most members of the Gram
Panchayat were not supportive and so decided to keep this information
secret until the right moment. They knew that the Taluk Panchayat
member, Mr. Nagappa Kotari, was very sympathetic to their cause and so
the children shared their information with Mr. Nagappa and one of the
Coordinator’s of CWC. At this time the Irrigation Department invited
Bhima Sangha for a tree-planting programme. During this programme, when
the children were invited to speak they spoke about alcoholism and
presented the information they had gathered to all those present.
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A person came down
from his village Bellala in the Keradi Panchayat, to Kundapura town.
In the town, he had several drinks of ‘arrack’, a
country-made liquor. Towards evening he was very drunk as he got
into the bus to go back to his village fully. In the bus he fell
asleep. The co-passengers did not disturb him. The bus reached its
destination. The man was still fast asleep and did not get off at
his stop. The bus returned to Kundapura town. The man was still
asleep. While the bus was parked at the depot, some people in the
town pushed him out of the bus. He had to sleep the whole night in
the bus depot, for there was no other bus leaving for his village
that evening. The next day morning he travelled home by the same
bus, people began talking about his escapade and soon this news
spread to the entire village. It was a big shame for him and an
eye-opener for the entire village.
Children’s case study, Jan 2002. |
Again at the Independence
Day celebrations conducted at the main school in the Panchayat on 15th
August the Children invited the Executive Director of CWC to the
celebrations. During this programme the children again presented all the
information they collected and explained the process of information
collection. The Taluk Panchayat members, the headmaster, teachers, other
invitees and the entire village were shocked by the information shared
by children. They could not imagine the huge revenue loss for the
village. It was inconceivable. The entire gathering also felt ashamed;
that they had been informed by children; they, the adults had not
recognised this as an issue and none of them, including those holding
senior positions had taken any action in this regard. There was a
unanimous public response demanding that the concerned authorities take
the matter seriously and take stringent and immediate action.
| He may
be an alcoholic, but he is still our father.
A group of children representing the various
wards of the Keradi Panchayat were putting together their demands to
the Keradi Gram Panchayat prior to the Children’s Grama Sabha
Meeting. One of the issues they had decided to raise was the issue
of alcoholism. I who was acting as the ‘devils advocate’ asked them
why it was an issue for them. Many people in the village drink,"
they said. I said, "so what? That is their problem." Then they gave
me several examples such as "the men folk come home late"; "they
spend money on liquor"; "they fall all over the place". However, the
"they fall all over the place" was a recurring theme. I said, "How
does that bother you?" So they said, "you do not understand, they
fall all over the place, on the road, in the bus stop!" I repeated
my question once again.
They looked at me for a while and then they said, "but it is so
embarrassing, they fall on the road and we find them there".
I again repeated my question. "But why should that bother YOU?"
Now the kids said "but they get hurt and then the family has to
spend money on doctors and medicines and then there is less food at
home. They also come home and shout at their wives and children and
school children find it difficult to do their home work".
Then I said that those families and children should raise this issue
not you.
The kids considered this for a long time; they were looking at me as
if I was stupid or something. Didn’t I understand that they were
talking about their own fathers? That it was embarrassing to be told
by your friend or classmate that your father was lying on the road?
That if he got hurt they had less to eat?
I apologised but said that I still did not understand, why not let
him lie there a few times that might teach him a lesson?
Now the kids were really puzzled. How could I be so dense? They all
answered in unison. "We cannot do that, he is our father!"
I have always experienced the concern that children have for others,
especially their family, but this was a revelation for me that even
when their parent was obnoxious, abusive and causing them and their
families great hardship; they still loved him. They were concerned
about him and embarrassed for him.
The strategy that the children of Keradi later developed to have
liquor shops banned in Keradi demonstrated the same concern and
affection. It was a strategy where no individual ‘lost face’, where
no one person was targeted and no family used as a specific example.
It is this capacity of children to strive for a unanimous decision
of all the stake holders, without labelling any one group as the
‘bad guys’ that enables them to succeed in their struggles.
We have a lot to learn from them!
Source: Nandana Reddy, Director Development.
During discussions with Children at the Keradi Children’s Grama
Sabha Meeting, January 2002 . |
As a first step it was
decided to stop the sale of alcohol through all sources other than
licensed stores. It was decided that the Panchayat will issue notices
immediately to ban the sale of liquor non licensed stores and the sale
has stopped in vegetable and grocery stores, from the cycle, under the
trees, etc.
| He may be an
alcoholic, but he is still our father.
A group of children representing the various
wards of the Keradi Panchayat were putting together their demands to
the Keradi Gram Panchayat prior to the Children’s Grama Sabha
Meeting. One of the issues they had decided to raise was the issue
of alcoholism. I who was acting as the ‘devils advocate’ asked them
why it was an issue for them. Many people in the village drink,"
they said. I said, "so what? That is their problem." Then they gave
me several examples such as "the men folk come home late"; "they
spend money on liquor"; "they fall all over the place". However, the
"they fall all over the place" was a recurring theme. I said, "How
does that bother you?" So they said, "you do not understand, they
fall all over the place, on the road, in the bus stop!" I repeated
my question once again.
They looked at me for a while and then they said, "but it is so
embarrassing, they fall on the road and we find them there".
I again repeated my question. "But why should that bother YOU?"
Now the kids said "but they get hurt and then the family has to
spend money on doctors and medicines and then there is less food at
home. They also come home and shout at their wives and children and
school children find it difficult to do their home work".
Then I said that those families and children should raise this issue
not you.
The kids considered this for a long time; they were looking at me as
if I was stupid or something. Didn’t I understand that they were
talking about their own fathers? That it was embarrassing to be told
by your friend or classmate that your father was lying on the road?
That if he got hurt they had less to eat?
I apologised but said that I still did not understand, why not let
him lie there a few times that might teach him a lesson?
Now the kids were really puzzled. How could I be so dense? They all
answered in unison. "We cannot do that, he is our father!"
I have always experienced the concern that children have for others,
especially their family, but this was a revelation for me that even
when their parent was obnoxious, abusive and causing them and their
families great hardship; they still loved him. They were concerned
about him and embarrassed for him.
The strategy that the children of Keradi later developed to have
liquor shops banned in Keradi demonstrated the same concern and
affection. It was a strategy where no individual ‘lost face’, where
no one person was targeted and no family used as a specific example.
It is this capacity of children to strive for a unanimous decision
of all the stake holders, without labelling any one group as the
‘bad guys’ that enables them to succeed in their struggles.
We have a lot to learn from them!
Source: Nandana Reddy, Director Development.
During discussions with Children at the Keradi Children’s Grama
Sabha Meeting, January 2002 . |
As a first step it was
decided to stop the sale of alcohol through all sources other than
licensed stores. It was decided that the Panchayat will issue notices
immediately to ban the sale of liquor non licensed stores and the sale
has stopped in vegetable and grocery stores, from the cycle, under the
trees, etc.
However, this is a
political issue and also a sensitive one. Most of the alcohol shops are
owned by the ‘Shettys’, an upper caste. This being the case, the
Panchayat President wants a memorandum to be submitted in order to close
the licensed shops as well.
Mr. Nagappa, member of
the Taluk Panchayat, is leading a people’s movement in the Panchayat
against alcoholism. He feels a strong memorandum from the Makkala
Panchayat will be able to influence the Taluk and District authorities
to pass the necessary order against all the alcohol shops in the village
as an appeal from the Children’s Panchayat has no political colouring.
Moreover, it was the children who raised the issue in the first place
and he feels that unless the adults’ deal with this issue it is shameful
and ‘we will be doing wrong by our children’. He is organising a huge
people’s rally campaigning against alcoholism. By the end of December he
is confident of declaring the entire Panchayat ‘ALCOHOL-FREE’.
| Children representing the
Makkala Panchayat, presenting their issues and concerns at the Keradi Grama
Sabha Meeting in January 2002.
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The ‘Katte Panchayat’ bans Alcohol and tobacco in N. Seernahalli
N. Seernahalli is a small village in the Mathihalli
Panchayat located in Bellary district, Karnataka. It is a rural,
backward village, very feudal and patriarchal.
The Gram Panchayat in this cluster of villages had
not been functioning for some time due to political infighting. The
Panchayat had also ‘closed’ their office, as it was right next to a
Liquor Shop and the members were getting into drunken brawls and
fighting. The Panchayat could take no decisions and the President was
helpless. As a result the Task Force did not meet and the children of
the Makkala Panchayat in this village were frustrated. They wanted to
take up the issue of alcoholism and tobacco addiction but had no forum
in which to do so. They decided to revitalise an old traditional custom
of conflict resolution; the ‘Katte Panchayat’ or the meeting of village
elders in the village square, under a tree. This is an old system of
governance where a group of recognised and respected leaders of the
community hear a problem and pass a resolution. The aggrieved party
spreading a blanket under the said tree calls the ‘Katte Panchayat’ or
community based decision-making process to session.
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The Balkur Panchayat
When we started work in this
Panchayat, the Panchayat passed a resolution not to give licence to
any liquor shops in the village. The Task Force has successfully
maintained this decision till today, though it is a potential source
of revenue for the Panchayat.
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One day the children of the Makkala Panchayat and the
Bhima Sangha spread the blanket under the tree. The ‘Katte Panchayat’
was called to session, the elders and the whole village gathered and the
children raised the issue of alcoholism and the consumption of tobacco
in the village. The issue was heard and discussed. Many adults,
especially the women supported the children’s demand. Even some of the
members of the Panchayat were in support; they were fed up with the
political stale mate. There was also a lot of pressure by the children
who illustrated their demand with embarrassing examples.
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Bhima Sangha and Namma Sabha
- The code conduct of Bhima Sangha and Namma
Sabha prohibits the consumption of alcohol and tobacco in any form
by any member. This is a criteria for membership
- Bhima Sangha & Namma Sabha members have taken a
decision not to sell tobacco products or alcohol in any shops
owned by them.
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The ‘Katte Panchayat’ had no alternative but to issue
notice closing down all the shops and stores selling alcohol in the
village. It went further and decided to prevent any inebriated
individual into the village in that state. He/she would have to sleep it
off outside the village before they could enter. They have also decided
to ban the consumption of tobacco in all forms in the entire village.
Shops have been issued notices not stock or sell tobacco. The Makkala
Panchayat and the Bhima Sangha have succeeded and the village has been
declared alcohol and tobacco free!
| Children belonging to
the Bhima Sangha Resource Group planning a Capacity Building Workshop at
Namma Bhoomi – Kundapura. Namma Bhoomi –
Kundapura, April 2001
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