(i) In 1992, in Andhra Pradesh, a movement was started against the drinking of alcohol. It received a good response in other States too.
(ii) When the head of the household dies an untimely death due to addiction to alcohol, the family faces a serious crisis which affects women the most.
(iii) Due to alcoholism, they have to deal with extreme sorrow and poverty. This movement got the support of the anti-arrack movement in Andhra Pradesh.
(iv) As a result of a government policy, arrack (a locally produced alcohol) dealers set up shop in every town and village.The poor labouring people began to get addicted to alcohol.
(v) At the same time, a literacy programme was being run in the villages of the State. The Sitama Katha (Sita’s story) was narrated as a part of this programme.
(vi) It was a story about Sita who creates awareness among the people of a village and gets alcohol to be banned from the village.
(vii) In 1992, three youths of Dubuganta village of Nellore district in Andhra Pradesh drowned in a lake, in a state of inebriation, and died.
(viii) At this instance, the women of the village came together and forced the closure of arrack shops.
(ix) The report of this news in the local newspapers had its effect on many other villages.
(x) The movement spread to the entire State and the government had to adopt a strict policy against the sale of alcohol.
