Jhumpura: With bootlegging increasing in many villages in the Jhumpura block of Keonjhar, women from self-help groups (SHGs) are getting ready for a showdown.
The women said the villages are now flooded with both country and foreign liquor; destroying many poor families. Women have been taking up anti-liquor campaigns at Khuntapada, Nahabeda, Jansonpur, Balibandh, Fakirpur and Ramchandrapur villages.
The women of Kandarapasi panchayat have now joined hands against the liquor trade, while the women of Silisuan have filed a complaint at the police station regarding this.
SHG members said that country liquor is being made at secluded spots near the Aradei River and at a creek in the panchayat.
They demanded that the Excise and police should raid the hooch dens and take action against the culprits.
The women warned of an agitation against hooch. “If no action is taken we will be forced to take the law into our hands against the bootleggers,” one of the women said.
An Excise official was contacted regarding this but he was not available for comment.
Srikant Parida, an officer of the Palaspanga beat house, said the SHG members have been called to the police station March 10.
Some women organised an awareness rally against country liquor at Rimulli a few days ago. They said they are being threatened by bootleggers.
PNN
