Excise dept looks to enlist help of SHG women to curb hooch menace

Kolkata: The state Excise department is planning to rope in Self-Help Group (SHG) women to survey rural areas and pass on information to the government regarding the hooch trade menace.

The move comes in the wake of complaints of hooch or illicit liquor trade in the state. Twelve people have died last week at Shantipur in Nadia district, due to consumption

of hooch.

"SHG women would be able to roam around the areas, interact with people and gather information about hooch dens. They will pass the information to the state government and steps will be taken immediately. They are involved in work at the grassroot level and have a very good knowledge of their locality in rural areas. So, we have decided to engage them for the purpose," said an official in the Excise department.

A Nabanna official said that their casual and friendly approach would work well in gathering information which otherwise gets ignored by the officials.

"These women would be able to inform the state government about the localities where the hooch trade is being run, people involved in it, areas where it is being prepared and

finally, the transport mechanism," he added.

Reports available with the state government has revealed that despite police surveillance, hooch trade has spread in rural areas. In fact, it has been reported that country liquor is being carried from neighbouring states to Bengal.

The Excise department is planning to write to the SHG department in this regard.

It may be mentioned that in the wake of the recent Nadia hooch tragedy, 11 officials of the Excise department were suspended for dereliction of duty. The move to rope in the SHG women has been taken up to help the Excise department in checking the rapid spread of hooch trade.