The Telangana government on Monday made plans to set up detoxification centres across all the districts, after hundreds of people checked into hospitals with withdrawal symptoms from gudumba and adulterated toddy.
This comes two days after around a 100 people in Nizamabad were admitted to the district hospital.The villagers had been drinking 'unadulterated' toddy for about a week, but they were so accustomed to the adulterated version, that they began falling sick.
The Telangana government has been cracking down on illicit and adulterated liquor and following a stern warning by excise officials, local toddy shop owners in the area had allegedly stopped adulteration.
“The government was aware of the danger of suddenly stopping supply of liquor to the poor who are addicted to gudumba and toddy. This was precisely the reason why the government considered introducing cheap liquor to wean away people from the harmful liquor they have been consuming for years,“ State excise minister T Padma Rao Goud told the
Times of India.
The TRS government had mooted bottled cheap liquor as an alternative to gudumba and was planning to implement the new policy from October 1.
However, it evoked strong reaction from the opposition and people's organizations especially women's groups, who alleged that the government was trying its fill its coffers by selling cheap liquor without bothering about its serious social and financial consequences for the poor.
Following this it had withdrawn its proposal. The chief minister said that the government would still deal firmly with the menace of gudamba as it was playing havoc with the lives of people.
Officials of the health department have also been told to ensure availability of anti-psychotic drugs at all government hospitals in the districts, the TOI report adds.
The government has sought an NGO's help to put together a support system for its hospitals in the districts, as the excise department officials continued their crackdown on the illicit liquor
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