VADODARA, July 26: A hardened reporter on the crime beat remembers Kavita Phulmali (not her real name) shedding copious tears before the policemen at the prohibition department in the city. Senior policemen and social activists, when asked about her case - this is not the first time she has been caught bootlegging - however, have little to say in explanation.Official sources, admit, however, that Kavita is only one of the many women involved in the widespread trade in the city. Financial crunches and illiteracy force women into this trade, they say.The facts are further bolstered by a survey titled `Women in Illicit Liquor Activity', conducted by Leena Mehta of the Faculty of Social Work, M S University with the help of the local police.Based on the findings of that survey, the police say they are chalking out an action plan.According to the survey, based on interviews with 100-odd women, about 30 per cent of those in the trade were widows with two to three children without any regular livelihood. They all took to selling liquor because it had a ready market and promised high returns with little effort.Being arrested for bootlegging affected the women little as their society accepted the lifestyle, according to the survey, and the monetary benefits were often considered to outweigh the benefits. Many of the interviewees said they were not bothered about being labeled daruwalis; almost all admitted to having been arrested twice or even thrice.Not just widows, even married women took up the trade to supplement their husbands' inadequate income; some took it up solely to make a fast buck, the survey learnt.The monthly income of these women rarely exceeded Rs 2000 per month, while their husbands - usually skilled or unskilled labourers - earnt upto Rs 1000 (Rs 2000 in exceptional cases), the survey found.According to the survey, women became less involved in the liquor trade as they approached their 50s, because by that time their children began earning. But the most disturbing aspect the survey discovered was that there was little chance of their children becoming ``law-abiding citizens''.The majority of the women interviewed agreed to give up the trade if they found an alternate source of income. But they were reluctant to take up fixed-hour jobs or those demanding hard work.Self-employment, according to the survey, was their first preference. While a majority of them wanted to be small-time vendors, others said they would like to work as domestics.The survey concluded that simple law-enforcement would not discourage the women from brewing alcohol, though an alternate source of income could. A trained counselor in the police commissioner's office could also help, Mehta suggested.
