Sakhi Mandal springs back to action: hands over bootlegger to police

Throwing light on the first drive begun by the Sakhi Mandal in Mahuva taluka in December 2008,Hemu Patel,a resident of Vehval village said: “I had come across complaints of many youths from our village being addicted to illicit liquor. They even beat up their wives and children. In fact,several Anganwadi workers working with me are widows whose husbands had died due to excessive consumption of liquor. We began our drive by destroying liquor dens in our village and then took over in neighbouring villages. Now,there are around 400 women who have joined Sakhi Mandal and we visit different villages to destroy liquor dens.”

Meena Patel,another member of Sakhi Mandal in Mahuva taluka,said,“We were compelled to take matters into our hand because earlier when we informed the police they took no action against the bootleggers. Now,things are much different. Many villages in Mahuva and Bardoli talukas are free from the menace of spurious liquor. Though we were forced to abandon our drive due to police pressure,we will be resuming it from Friday. Many women in Tapi and Navsari district have also taken cue from us. We are often threatened by bootleggers but we are made of stronger stuff. In fact,many youths have also joined us in the drive.”