Summary:
Ahmedabad, Oct 20 (PTI) A community in 24 villages of Gujarat has adopted a social experiment to combat the menace of alcoholism by caging and fining members who are caught in an inebriated state.
The Nat community in the state claims that the move is paying off and is acting as a deterrent as more and more of its members are getting dissuaded from consuming liquor.
The Nat community in Motipura village of Ahmedabad district had in 2019 floated the idea of setting up a makeshift cage to incarcerate people caught drunk for a night and impose a fine of Rs 1,200 on them, village sarpanch Babu Nayak said.
Though Gujarat is a dry state with a strong prohibition law, the menace of liquor consumption was high in the community, and hence, the experiment was soon replicated in 24 villages that had a sizable number of members from the community, he said.
"In 2017, we first decided to impose a fine of Rs 1,200 on drunkards, but the community members later realised that was not enough, so the rule of caging such people for a night was framed," Nayak said.
Villagers have set up a makeshift cage where erring members have to spend a night, he said, adding that such persons are only provided a bottle of water and a container to relieve themselves.