The 'poison' peddler women will brew nectar now

Barabanki: Women of the Chayanpurva village in Barabanki will no longer peddle 'poison', they will now distribute honey. This village is among the 12 hamlets in the vicinity of Ramnagar police station of Barabanki district in central Uttar Pradesh, 60km off the district headquarters. It was infamous for production and sale of 'killer hooch' that has destroyed families and ended many lives.

And this deadly mixture is being brewed mostly by women, who are bound to produce the illicit hooch to run their kitchens as they have no means of livelihood. However, this hooch produced by these women has taken the lives of their husbands. From time to time, police does conduct raids and arrest the women for the crime

Thirty-five-year-old Kanchana's husband died due to illicit hooch. In spite of such a tragedy, she is forced to make and sell illicit hooch to feed her children. Similarly, 50-year-old Sundara's husband became physically disabled after drinking spurious liquor, but Sundara is forced to continue selling it in order to bear the expenses of her two grand children's school fees, who are studying in Lucknow.

Both women are examples of poverty from the Chayanpurva village, who have no other means of livelihood but to sell hooch. The Barabanki Police have taken an initiative to help these women, who are criminals in the eyes of law. The police are trying to bring them out of the 'business of poison' now by helping them to harvest honey and lead respectable lives.

Talking to IANS, Barabanki Superintendent of Police, Arvind Chaturvedi, said, "We have distributed honey boxes to a select group of women in Chayanpurva. They will produce honey and earn Rs 5,000-6,000, which is more than what they make from the hooch business. We started this as a pilot project earlier this month. After two weeks, we will distribute honey-producing boxes to all women in the village. These women will be given training in production of honey by experts from Lucknow. I am sure this will help stamp out the social malaise."

At least 18 police stations in the rural swathes of Barabanki district have been identified where honey boxes would be installed. The women will thus be helped to come out of the vicious business to lead a crime-free life.