National
Daulichaur folk find a way to contain alcohol problem
Daulichaur, a remote village in Bajhang district, has found a noble method to development infrastructure: Using the fines collected for drinking and selling alcohol in development works.Basant Pratap Singh
Daulichaur, a remote village in Bajhang district, has found a noble method to development infrastructure: Using the fines collected for drinking and selling alcohol in development works.
The villagers have constructed a concrete school building, a temple and carried out other development activities with the money they collected as penalty for consuming alcohol. In the village notorious for murder and domestic violence, they have launched a campaign to curb alcohol abuse—the root cause of those problems.
Gorakh Bahadur Bohara, the chairman of Daulichaur Alcohol Control Committee, said the committee had collected around Rs1.6 million as penalty in the past couple of years. According to him, the amount was used to construct a four-room school building, a temple and a Chautaro (public resting place). The amount was also used to install solar panel at a local health post.
“We have decided to initiate the campaign as the village was infamous for violence caused by the consumption of alcohol. Some people were reluctant initially to join the campaign, but the majority of them supported us as we started using the money collected from penalties for development activities,” said Bohara, adding more than 100 people have been fined.
The committee charges a fine of Rs10,000 for consuming alcohol and Rs20,000 for selling liquor in the village.
Three years ago, two persons were killed in Daulichaur when a drunken brawl turned ugly. The hostility between two fractions in the village persisted for months, forcing some families to leave the village for fear of retribution.
VDC Secretary Krishna Raj Joshi has hailed the committee’s effort to maintain peace in the area. “Alcohol is the main cause of the violence in the village. The violent activities have decreased significantly since the launching of the anti-alcohol campaign,” he said.
Taking a leaf out of Daulichaur book, locals in adjoining areas Surma VDC and Mayana, and Suila settlements in Jayaprithivi Municipality have now started the similar campaign.