Que 2) It is a State where prohibition is in force. You are recently appointed as the Superintendent of Police of a district notorious for illicit distillation of liquor. The illicit liquor leads to many deaths, reported and unreported, and causes a major problem for the district authorities. The approach till now had been to view it as a law-and-order problem and tackle it accordingly. Raids, arrest, police cases, and criminal trials – all these had only limited impact. The problem remains as serious as ever.
Your inspections show that the parts of the district where the distillation flourishes are economically, industrially and educationally backward. Agriculture is badly affected by poor irrigation facilities. Frequent clashes among communities gave boost to illicit distillation. No major initiatives had taken place in the past either from the government’s side or from social organizations to improve the lot of the people.
Which new approach will you adopt to bring the problem under control?
Ethical issues involved:
Right to Life of the locals
Lack of good governance and presence of corruption
Inefficient methods of the district authorities to tackle the situation
Lack of Courage and attitudinal issues
This case highlights the importance of persuasion for attitudinal change among people to develop a value laden society.
Following persuasion techniques can be adopted in this regard –
Value education in schools, panchayat and other social institutions to instill dignity and self-worth. Socratic Method can be used in this regard.
Motivating youth through speeches, literatures, videos, workshops, mohalla meetings to dream and work hard to achieve their dream. They must inculcate perseverance and discipline.
They must be taught the message of Rudyard Kipling:
“If you can fill the unforgiving minute With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run, Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it”
Female members of society can be organized (SHGs) and trained to explain the harmful impact of liquor using emotional intelligence.
Males can be motivated to provide better future to family by invoking values of love and compassion.
Explanatory videos and short films illustrating harmful physical, mental, psychological and spiritual impact of liquor must be popularized.
Role modeling by people who have successfully overcome their liquor addiction. Movies like Sanju can be showcased.
Government sponsored Deaddiction centres and gifts, Credit facility for entrepreneurship, appreciation by village etc. for people who successfully overcome addiction.
Steps to be taken to solve the above situation:
Educational institutions must be strengthened through funds, teachers training, use of ICT and innovation like mid-day meal, sports etc. for high retention.
Increasing agricultural investment for irrigation, productivity, marketing, food processing and entrepreneurship.
Skill development and engaging youths in more productive jobs as Empty mind is devils workshop.
Ease of doing business to attract investment and industrialization in the region.
Ensuring communal harmony through cooperation of local politicians
Spread of message of peace on social media and regular media and implementing constitutional provisions.
The given case deals with the menace of illicit distillation of liquor which has led to many deaths. Raids, arrests and police cases have not yielded satisfactory results. Thus there is a need to look at the problem through a broader perspective
Issues affecting the district
-poor economic development
-poor agricultural conditions and irrigation facilities
-lack of community cohesion
-insignificant presence of Civil Society Organizations (CSO), SHG, NGOs
As the superintendent of police, I will take following steps to curb the illicit distillation of liquor and its effects
1) De-addiction Centers
-From Psychological perspective, it is often observed that those facing hardship find refuge in intoxication and drug addiction. Thus, in co-ordination with local administration de-addiction centers would be established
-CSO could be roped in to keep a regular check on the functioning of these centers and to suggest any improvements if needed.
2) Agriculture & Irrigation facilities
-Local people need to be made aware of agricultural schemes by government like – Micro irrigation scheme (drip irrigation), PM-Kisan, National Honey Mission, National Bamboo Mission etc.
-Also efforts need to be made to persuade district irrigation department to provide solutions to irrigation issues in the district
3) Economic and Education Activities
-Farmers need to be organized in FPO and SHG to strengthen their collective bargaining (one district one product scheme)
-Active advertisement of schemes by KVIC and loan availability through regional rural banks etc
-Focus needs to be laid on children who lost their family members to addiction. Arrangements need to be made for their counseling and educational support ( Anganwadi & local school admissions)
4)Civil Society Organizations
-Administration alone can\’t solve the issue and people\’s participation via CSO, SHG & NGOs is important
-They can promote harmony among communities via dramas, plays etc
-Women NGOs can inform police about addiction in their families and from where they procure alcohol
All of above efforts will curb the demand for liquor. Focusing only on law & order aspect of illicit alcohol issue won\’t take us far, thus, we need to look beyond and find a holistic solution. Socio – economic development of masses will effectively curb the menace of illicit alcohol and improve the quality of life of the masses.
