TN women take lead in anti-liquor drives

More women are taking lead in anti-liquor campaigns in various villages with shops now moving to residential localities after the Supreme Court ordered removal of liquor vends from within 500 metres of highways.

At Kancheepuram village, a group of women got together and pulled down a structure that was supposed to house a liquor store of Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (Tasmac). The men, too, joined the protest. Village panchayat vice-president M Dilli Babu said that a few days ago, a former employee at a Tasmac shop on the highway came and scouted for a spot in the village. The villagers then met the collector, who assured them that the shop would not come up.

However, according to the villagers, construction of a building started taking place where the liquor shop was to come up. Therefore, they pulled it down on Thursday afternoon. The owner of the land, Venkadesan, insisted that it was not supposed to house liquor shop, but the villagers didn’t pay heed to him.

Whether it is Chinnayapalem village near Coimbatore or Samalapuram town near Tirupur, or for that matter in Tiruchirapalli or Vellore, the story is the same. Women are protesting opening of Tasmac in agricultural fields closer to residential clusters in villages as the apex court banned serving liquor close to highways.

Sumalata, one of the protesters at Chinnayapalem, said, “Once the liquor shop comes up here, there will be no security for women as all kinds of people would visit the place. There will be an increase in incidents of eve teasing too. It would be difficult for people to walk on this path because of the drunkards.”

There are 79 houses in Chinnayapalem and all of them have hoisted black flags as a mark of protest against the administration. Similar is the situation at many villages where women are in the forefront of the agitation to stop liquor shops from moving into residential areas.