Govt bid to deter sale of illicit liquor

Daltonganj: Phulo Jhano Ashirwad Yojna, launched by chief minister Hemant Soren on 29 September 2020, to disengage women from manufacturing and selling illicit liquor, is making gradual impact in poverty-stricken Palamu.
Chhatni Devi of Sotamdabra village under the Nilamber Pitamberpur (earlier known as Lesliganj) block used to manufacture and sell illicit liquor since 2021 upon her return from Punjab, where she used to carry bricks on the head at construction sites. At the ‘Sarkar Aapke Dwar’ programme held at the panchayat bhavan on Saturday, SDO (Sadar) Rajesh Kumar Sah handed over her a Rs 40,000 cheque to her to start a poultry farm.
Sah said, “Chhatni Devi has vowed never to return to the liquor trade. She is confident of making a new earning.”
District programme manager of the Jharkhand State Livelihood Promotion Society, Palamu, Bimlesh Kumar Shukla, said, “Since the launch of Phulo Jhano Aashirvaad Yojna in 2020, around 343 women engaged in the sale of ‘hariya’ (rice beer) have returned to alternative vocations.”
Asked as to how the rehabilitated women are kept away from selling ‘hariya’ (rice beer) when the trade has good returns, Shukla said, “We keep a close tab on the Yojna beneficiaries and have found no case of such violation.”
A few villages in Palamu like Kankaree and Pipra are notorious for manufacturing and sale of illicit liquor. The fruits of around 11 lakh mahua trees found here are fermented for making the brew.