DRINKING among the tribal communities has been widely prevalent. The sentimental attachment of the tribals with onekind of liquor or the other is evident from the fact that mahua tree is treated as sacred by many of the tribals and is worshipped. Drinking can be said to be a part of their social milieu from the times immemorial and has to be considered in that context. In an essentially subsistence non-monetized economy, a healthy drink is as much a produce of the land as any other article of food. It is also seen that most of the locally prepared beverages are not intoxicants. It is an invigorating effect and has some food value also and hence it can be said to have acclimatized to their social situation.
THE indigenous beverage prepared by fermentation of rice and millets has been the favourite liquor of the tribals. It is called by different names in different regions. In Madhya Pradesh it is known as Handiay in Assam as Pong, as Zop in north-eastern region,as Ludgi in Punjab and Himachal Pradesh, as Kalhi in Andhra Pradesh, Pachawe in Bihar and with a variety of names in other tribal areas of the country. The tiibals have been preparing and consuming this type of liquor on festive occasions, marriages and funeral and other ceremonial occasions. Even during normaldays when the urge for liquor becomes imperative, home brew may be prepared either at home or in jungle and is enjoyed in the company of a fewfriends.
THE description given above provides a fairly clear picture of the traditional situation. But with the advent of British administration in tribal areas the tribals lost this sort of independence and their mental peace too, in the process. The colonial administration introduced a system of liquor administration alien to the tribal people.
Unfortunately, the government and the liquor lobby became interested parties in the drinking of the tribal. Despite their repeated denials that this policy was aimed at increasing the revenue, it was crystal clear that this policy virtually forced the tribal to drink. Tribal Development in the Fifth Plan: Some Basic Policy Papers (1975)quotes W.B. Grickson who stated that introduction of an alien system of out still in Bastar, not suitable to the local condition, introduced the contractor who was interested in maximising his profit. The old system of a village folk preparing a drink when the village community so desired was is continued. This resulted in a level of drinking unparalleled anywhere else and untold misery. It quotes another enquiry in Bombay Presidency in 1938 by D. Synington which reveals that “the excise policy of British administration, in making the sale of liquor a source of revenue in the State, had devastating effect on the tribal people”.
NOW,let us review the situation in the post-independent period. Article 46 of the Constitution enjoins upon the State to protect the members of Scheduled Tribes from social injustice and all forms of exploitation. Article 47 of the Constitution casts a duty upon the State by prescribing that “the State shall regard the raising of the level of nutrition and the standard of living of its people and improvement of public health as among its primary duties and, particular, the State shall endeavour to bring about prohibition of the consumption of liquor, except for medicinal purposes, of intoxicating drinks and of drugs which are injurious to heath.” Furthermore, removal of poverty has been the core of approach of various plans and the first pre-requisite for the removal of poverty is elimination of exploitation. Keeping this objective in mind, our planners have given highest priority to the elimination of exploitation in all the programmes of tribal development. Unfortunately, one of the worst forms of exploitation of the vulnerable tribals is the prevalent practice of liquor vending.
WHILE studying and analysing the problem of drinking among the tribals and its consequent effects on the tribal economy, Dhebar Commission was surprised to find out that in some places distilled liquor has entered tribal areas after independence. They observed that “we do not understand the need for this type of an arrangement when the tribals have their own favourite beverage which, from social as well as ceremonial point of view, they regard as quite sufficient”. Prof. N. K. Bose, the Commissioner for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes(1970-71) describes liquior vendors as “agents of exploitation” in the tribal areas and the Dhebar Commission recommended the discontiuation of the sale of distilled liquor at once.
THE present system of liquor vending is proving to be disaster to the tribal economy. The introduction of distilled liquor sold under licence issued by the government has heaped untold miseries on the poor tribals. It has been observed that “the liquor shops have served as a funnel through which anti-social elements from the advanced areas of the country find easy way into these backward communities. They indulge in all sorts of undesirable activities. The owners of these shops are reported to engage lathaits (muscle men)and create a state of terror in the region. It is alleged that they forcibly enter Adivasi huts without any fear of authority, to check and detect illicit distillation.The licenced shops are also alleged to engage in a large number of Pherrywallas (vendors) who go from village to village and establish informal subshops in almost all villages. The tribal community has no relief against these illegal activities. These illegal shops in almost every village become a great temptation to the Adivasi youth. A tribal gets into debt, sometimes imaginary : Land alienation begins notwithstanding the laws against it. There are allegations of informal official pressure on the contractor to raise their auction bid. Once the contractor obliges the administration, he takes the administration for granted and does anything he likes in these areas. It is reported that in certain areas there are almost compulsory levies per family or per plough or per marriage in the form of minimum consumption of liquor on the point of threat that if he failed to pay he will be hauled before law for real or imaginary cases of illicit distillation. The strong men of the liquor trade are able to keep on the right side of lower bureaucracy belonging to various departments, including excise, police, revenue, forest. The tribal considers himself to be alone against this alien group. Some recent studies tend to show that higher State revenues of excise are positively correlated to high incidence of indebtedness and land alienation (Tribal Development in the Fifth Plan: Some Basic Policy Papers ).
THE preceding description clearly shows that the tribal addiction to the distilled liquor is a source of many of his miseries and if the tribal is to come out of his age-old slavery to moneylenders he would have to be weaned away from liquor. But the evils of sale and consumption of distilled liquor are nothing to do with indigenous liquor, because this brand of liquor has been theiv part of life from times immemorial without causing any disruption in the fabric of their social and economic life.
THE pro-distilled liquor lobby in the administration has been raising the bogey of increased consumption of liquor in case the contract system is abolished. On the other hand, genuine protagonists of tribal welfare strongly maintain that since a social norm tends to be within limits, in the present situation the local community will decide when to prepare the beverage. It is likely to be limited to special occasions only. No individual will have the freedom of going and getting the liquor as and when he wishes. Besides , physical limitation of availability of mahua and millet will impose an upper limitation on its consumption.
THE picture shall remain incomplete without a brief review of another sahool of thought. On the other extreme stand protagonists of total prohibition even in tribal areas. Such elements are free to propagate their philosophy but they display their complete ignorance of the ways, values and life of the tribals. They fail to understand that home brew liquor has been a way of life with the tribals and the indigenous beverage, apart from fulfilling some of their religious and ritualistic
needs, also supplements some of their nutritional deficiency and adds a little cheer to their hard life. Anyway, if they have to give up their traditional liquor, the initiative has to come from their side. Many of the tribal communities are aware of the evil effects of liquor addiction and consequently in a number of tribal areas strong movements have arisen from time to time which have dissuaded the tribals from consuming distilled liquor. The Bhagat movement in Bihar may be cited in support of the social forces opposing consumption of liquor. Until such a movement spearheaded by the tribals themselves gains ground, nobody would interfere with the normal home brew liquor that the tribals are accustomed to take. Let them attain the consciousness that rice and other cereals can be more suitably utilised and they will give up this habit. But as a first step to prove their concern for the plight of the tribals, the administration will have to banish the liquor magnates from tribal areas and hit their lobbyists harder than ever.