Monday, Jul 31, 2006
Orissa's Widow Village
Sarada Lahangir
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Hardly anyone in the tiny village of Sambalpur district had ever imagined, their place would one day be known as a 'widows' village'. After losing their husbands and other males of the family to spurious country made liquor, the widows are clueless about their survival in future.
Today Orampada, the small village in Orissa's Sambalpur district is known among people in far-flung areas as a widow village. Of the total fifty households comprising of about 300 villagers, most of the houses have at least one widow .
Country liquor is available in Orissa, which being cheap is preferred by the poor. News reports about liquor-related deaths do not make anyone wink his or her eyes in the State, and the grim situation in Orampada village in Sambalpur is no different.
In the past, despite many attempts to make the drinkers change their habits, nothing significant could be achieved to make drinkers stay away from country made liquor.
"My husband died three years ago. I made several attempts to persuade him on leaving this habit for once and all, but all in vain. We also admitted him in the hospital for treatment, but nothing worked," said Ganga Bai, a widow.
"My husband used to consume liquor heavily. I warned him but he did not listen to me and finally died. Now we are facing a lot of problems to survive," said Gurubari, another widow.
Many local activists and villagers have asked the government to address this problem expeditiously.
"Here people do farming and heavily consume the local made liquor. When they are sick, they don't have enough money for the treatment and finally they die. They are too poor to provide basic education to their children. Their families survive either by making biris (local cigarettes) or doing odd jobs as labourers," said Ram Kant Prishwal, a local activist.
Villagers have now started raising their voice against those who sell spurious liquor.
"We are tribals, backward class people; tribals normally consume liquor. Now a days the educated people are taking liquor so why are we only talking about the uneducated ? An awareness campaign should be launched against the hazards of consuming liquor and the government should ban the liquor outlets,"
Though it has become commonplace to find the poor tribals suffering due to their drinking habits, but, surprisingly, not much could be done for the welfare of the dependents in the family--women and children.
However, various NGOs and women's groups in Orissa have been waging a war against liquor, forcing local liquor vendors to close down shops and pressing the State government to re-impose prohibition.
Many groups, both in urban and remote villages in Balasore, Kalahandi, Koraput, Sundergarh and Bolangir districts, have succeeded in making their respective hamlets liquor-free to the extent of destroying liquor supplies and punishing bootleggers. (ANI)
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