Ahmedabad: This ‘innovative way’ of correcting drunkards was discovered in a Gujarati village. The villagers from the Nat (nomadic) community have caged their drunkards and are releasing them only after paying a fine of Rs 1,200.
The social experiment first initiated in Motipura village in Sanand has been adopted by 23 other villages as well in districts like Kutch, Ahmedabad and Surendranagar.
The fine limit has now been raised to Rs 2,500 and the money collected is used to fund the local socio-religious events, according to a report in Times of India.
According to Motipura village sarpanch Babu Nayak, the innovative approach has now been adopted by 23 villages as it proved a major deterrent against liquor menace.
Many villages in Gujarat have reported high cases of alcoholism. On an average, there are 100-250 liquor widows who have lost their husbands to liquor.
Modus Operandi
The social experiment against alcoholism is being carried out in a major way by the women in villages. They act as informants who tip-off elders about drunk men. The names of informants are never revealed to public and women are rewared from the fines collected.
“The menace of drunk husbands creating ruckus and indulging in domestic violence has been reduced to 90 per cent. Spending a night in village cage and the threat of social boycott proved a major preventive measure,” the report quoted Nayak as saying.
The village sarpanch said they do not hand over drunkards to police as their action involves more of a community intervention to prevent villagers from falling into debt trap and legal troubles.
How drunkards are caught
Village elders carry out surprise checks following tip-off by women informants. If a person is found drunk after a ‘sniff test’ then the man is put in a makeshift cage for the night.
A village’s solution to fighting liquor abuse is to cage drunkards and release them only after paying a fine
