Winds of change are blowing through Sonbhadra district in Uttar Pradesh. Women from marginalised and tribal communities, once traditionally engaged in brewing alcohol from mahua flowers, have transformed their lives by forming self-help groups and motivating each other to end the custom.

For the past four years, none of the 25 families in Salkhan village has returned to the practice.

However, when the idea was first broached in 2012 by the not-for-profit Rajiv Gandhi Mahila Vikas Pariyojna (RGMVP), it was met with stiff resistance. It took six months to convince the women that forming self-help groups would increase their income and savings.

Indrawati Devi was the first to step forward. “I was sceptical in the beginning as I was earning ₹100 a day from selling the alcohol. But I knew this was not the livelihood I wanted my two sons to follow. Once I learnt there were alternatives without having to borrow from the moneylender, I decided to switch,” said the 40-year-old mother of three.

Once convinced, Indrawati began campaigning in earnest. She was able to convince 10 women to form the first SHG in December 2012 in her hamlet Mungat. After a couple of months, she took a loan of ₹1,000 from her SHG to rent a cart to vend vegetables. By April 2015, she had bought the cart and invested in a small shop. Last year she bought a TV.

Other women engaged in alcohol brewing were inspired to follow in her footsteps. Thirty-year-old Shakuntala Devi took a loan from her SHG to buy a sewing machine and now earns ₹5,000 a month, almost double what she earned from alcohol. Her confidence was further boosted when she was elected ward member in the local panchayat elections in February 2016. “Being part of the SHG made me believe in myself. I have changed my family and now I can help change my village,” she said.

For 26-year-old Yashoda Devi, being married into a family where alcohol was traditionally brewed made it harder to give up. “Both my husband and mother-in-law wanted me to continue brewing alcohol. They didn’t want me to join the SHG. Luckily, a relative came to my rescue. She put in the initial money for me. Later, I sent my monthly contribution secretly from the money saved from household expenses,” she recalled.

After some months, when the SHG gave her a loan of ₹15,000 to start a small shop, she told her family she would no longer follow its alcohol brewing tradition. “I began to earn a daily profit of ₹300. This helped to change my husband’s attitude. He now supports me,” said Yashoda.

According to Chandramani Kumar, RGMVP field officer, “The SHG’s collective strength gave the women the confidence to end the practice of alcohol brewing and selling.”

In Sukri’s case, she was afraid of the loss in income if she stopped brewing alcohol. Her husband was a daily wage labourer and work was hard to get. Last year, when Sukri’s husband suddenly died, all 40 SHGs in the village rallied around her. Despite not being a member, she was given three quintals of rice and ₹3,500 to tide over the crisis.

“I realised then I could trust the SHGs. I took their advice to opt for another livelihood to look after my baby daughter. Since then, I feel safe,” said the soft-spoken Sukri.

The writer is a Delhi-based journalist