Recently, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has announced a ban on cultivation of tobacco in India and proposed rehabilitation and alternative livelihoods for the cultivators.
The State Government too is very much keen to keep a tab over the cannabis cultivation within forest and revenue lands, commonly in the hilly regions. It is known everywhere that the anti-social elements, apart from the Maoists, are providing patronage to the ganja cultivators as they are getting huge monetary benefit from the illegal farming. There is a wide market for contrabands like ganja, tobacco and ghutkha in the State and outside. So, mafias are very active in the transaction of the narcotics.
Again, there are various indigenous plants, which are used for producing alcohol like Mahua, date palm, Khajur, palm, Salap or Mari.Some herbs and roots are also used for the manufacture of alcoholic drinks. The alcoholic producers encourage the cultivation of these plants and herbs.
Few can dispute that increasing consumption of narcotic products, besides having their detrimental effect on health, lead to a spurt in crime. Alcohol business may be making good revenue generation for the Government but the adverse effect of rise in consumption of alcohol on the social and moral fabric of our society far outweighs the benefit.
There are many ways to yield financial benefit from the alcohol producing plants, their flowers or fruits by value addition. For example, the Mahua flowers can be best used as cattle feeds. If proper researches are undertaken, date, palm, and salap can be used for manufacturing various products with far more financial gains. Since these plants are found in the rural and tribal-prone areas, the gains from their value addition can boost the economy of the villagers and poverty-struck tribals. This would also dissuade them from cultivating the plants for narcotic products alone. Proper utilisation of these forest resources can provide meaningful engagements to the people living in rural areas.
Consumption of narcotics creates several health hazards like respiratory ailments, cancer and psychiatric disorders. The toll caused due to the consumption of various drugs in the State and elsewhere is alarming. The most shocking part of the popularity of narcotics is its increasing use by the tender students of colleges and schools. As they are habituated to smoking, they go astray and get involved in several crimes.
The manufacturers and peddlers of drugs always make it sure that they stay put in the market despite adverse situation. Hence, they devise various means to capture the markets. It is the youngsters, who always fall in their trap and spoil their lives.
The Government’s measures to control manufacture and consumption of drugs leave much to be desired. Taking advantage of the slackness in the implementation of the anti-drug laws, the mafias continue to swell their business in cahoots with the venal officials and police.
Kendu plant is widely used for manufacturing of bidi. A tropical or sub-tropical plant, it is a high revenue generating species. It also gives wage employment to the poor primary pluckers. In Odisha, collection, storage and transport of Kendu leaves used to be under the control of the Government. The Forest department dealt with the collection of bidi leaves, while the Odisha Forest Development Corporation (OFDC) dealt with its trade. However, of late, the Government has decontrolled the Kendu leaves and assigned the panchayats to look into the entire gamut of business. The forest dwellers and villagers have now a freehand in collection and transaction of the leaves. Besides Odisha, Chhattigarh and Madhya Pradesh are also a hot belt for Kendu leaves. Most bidi manufacturing industries are found in these States.
It is a very destructive practice where the total tropical ecology is damaged due to repeated cutting of shoots of the plants for production of new succulent leaves. The cutting of Kendu shoots also creates suffering for the grazing animals. Kendu gives nice edible fruits for animals and birds.
When social harmony is at stake for harmful effects of consumption of drugs and narcotic items, we should ignore the economic values of the products and take steps for moderation.
(The writer is a former senior forest officer and an environmentalist)