Vimukthi Takes Drug-free Drive to Tribal Hamlets

IDUKKI:
In a novel campaign to prevent tribal people from falling prey to intoxicants and drug addiction, Kerala’s de-addiction mission Vimukthi under the State Excise Department has launched a project to help tribal communities take up traditional farming to channelise their focus and energy to gainful engagement.

The project, ‘Kaval Madam’, has been launched at Chinnappara and Korangatty villages in Adimali Panchayat in the district by Janamaithri wing of the Excise Department, with the co-operation of Sc-ST, Agriculture, Irrigation and Local Self Government departments.

The scheme aims at ensuring a steady source of income for communities in these villages and bring them back to their traditional farming and healthy food habits.

The project was inaugurated by noted magician Gopinath Muthukad, at a function at Chinnapara recently. Ahead of the launch, the NCC unit of SH College Thevara held a two-day camp for carrying out door-to-door visits to spread the drug-free message and help households in the villages prepare the ground for rearing crops. To start with, cultivation of foxtail millet (thina), finger millet (ragi) and tapioca had been taken up.

Earlier, Vimukthi volunteers had conducted a contact programme at the tribal settlements, from which it emerged that the members of the community could be prevented from taking to drugs and intoxicants by engaging them actively in traditional occupations like farming.

The volunteers had especially interacted with children and youth of the settlements, from whom they could gather vital information on the economic, social and health issues faced by the population. These in-puts have been factored in working out the project.