Women resort to puja to end liquor sale in their village in Keonjhar

Up in arms against illicit liquor sale, hundreds of women at Odisha’s Podang under Telkoi block of Keonjhar district came together and conducted a special puja against alcohol sale and consumption in the village.

Illegal liquor smugglers were made to swear on Bhagavad Gita that they would give up their jobs. Even drunkards and alcohol consumers were made to attend the puja ceremony and vow to never drink again.

The women believe that those violating the puja rules would be cursed by their deity. Later, the women took out a rally and spread words about the ‘puja’ and its rules in and around the village.

“So many incidents happened here due to liquor sale and drinking in the village; so, all the mothers of Podang village have come together to perform ‘Bhagavad Gita’ puja and swear on the holy book that no one will neither sell nor drink liquor in our village. We will also impose a penalty on those who still do not follow the rules,” alleged a village woman.

“Husbands spend all the money on liquor and do not bring home anything. As a result, our children are not able to afford their studies and we are not able to run household chores due to lack of money,” she added.

Likewise, another woman said, “We have eight liquor stores in our village. We get Subhadra money and PDS rice through ration cards. Our husbands do not fear taking our Subhadra money and even sell the PDS rice to drink alcohol. This leads to tension in every family. So, all women of our village have come together to bring an end to liquor sales in our village.”