ADILABAD: Adivasi women in the erstwhile Adilabad district organised rallies on Wednesday demanded a ban on liquor shops and passed resolutions in support of the same. Women hailing from Kerameri village destroyed liquor bottles and also beat up belt shop owners. In other agency mandals, Adivasi women took out rallies and passed resolutions to ban liquor shops. The movement is garnering attention with several new groups of women joining everyday.
The State government, earlier, called for tenders to set up liquor shops in the district but with the leaders of Adivasi organisation passing resolution under the Panchayats ( Extension to Scheduled Aread) Act 1996, the government shifted the three shops from Jainoor, Lingapoor and Sirpur mandals to other mandals. Taking a cue from this, other villages and mandals are also passing resolutions under the PESA Act. Agitated women, who are often the silent sufferers when their husbands turn raging alcoholics, destroyed liquor bottles.
The rallies in favour of the anti-liquor movement were held in Indervelly, Narnoor, Utnoor, Gadguda, Kerameri, Tiryani mandals. People here allege that men are prone to accidents and violence after consuming liquor. Recently, Adilabad Collector D Divya and SP Vishnu S Warrier organised a meeting with the Adivasi leaders and assured the villagers that effective steps to close belt shops would be taken soon.