Come April 1, the Naxal-infested district of Chandrapur in Eastern Maharashtra will come under a dry spell for good, albeit of a different kind. Chandrapur will become third district in Maharashtra after Wardha and Gadchiroli where there will be a total ban on sale, purchase, production and consumption of liquor.
Announcing the BJP-led saffron alliance Government’s decision to impose prohibition in the mineral-rich district of Chandrapur, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that his dispensation would create a separate zone for the adjoining districts of Wardha, Gadchiroli and Chandrapur to implement prohibition under the supervision of an IPS officer.
While prohibition has been in force in Wardha district — where Mahatma Gandhi’s Sevagram Ashram is located, since April 1, 1950, the neighbouring Gadchiroli was declared as a “dry district” in 1992. Following an intense clamour from the local people, Chandrapur is now joining the list of dry district in a State where there are currently 35 districts.
Talking to mediapersons here, Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar — who has long been crusading for imposition of prohibition — said, “I have succeeded in fulfilling the assurance made to the people of Chandrapur, who have been electing me consistently for the past four terms. ...I had said earlier that if this assurance is not fulfilled, I would resign… Now, I would like to thank personally all the Ministers and the Chief Minister, who understood the sound reasoning that I came up for imposing prohibition in Chandrapur”.
“Of the 800-plus Gram Panchayats in Chandrapur district, 515 (involving more than 1,000 villages) had passed a resolution seeking prohibition. Women and NGOs have long been crusading for ban on alcohol through signature drives and other means of protests. The population of Chandrapur is 21 lakh. A majority of the people favour prohibition,” Mungantiwar, who is also the Guardian Minister of Chandrapur, said.
Queried as to the expected excise revenue that would arise out of the ban on the sale, purchase, production and consumption of liquor, Mungantiwar said: “The annual revenue loss would be of the order of Rs200 crore. But, you have to look at the issue in totality. On an average, many of the families spend as much as Rs10,000 in a year towards liquor. Alcohol has been affecting the health of people and it is also affecting productivity and development in the district”.
According to Mungantiwar, liquor consumption has long been a social issue in the district “ The previous Government had set up a committee comprising among others renowned personalities like Abhay Bang and Vikas Amte. The Committee had submitted the report favouring the prohibition. The previous Government sat over the recommendations of the committee. But, we have now decided to impose prohibition based on a recommendation made by the Committee”.
On why prohibition was not being imposed in the entire state, Mungantiwar said that it should be the final objective. “In the case of my district, people have long been demanding prohibition. Women had undertaken huge morchas in Nagpur to clamour for the imposition of ban on alcohol”.