Popular Bollywood star to be Uttarakhand’s Drug De Addiction ambassador says CM Rawat

Sounds very strange and ironical.? A state where its ruling party dispensation never hesitates to open outlets on large scale despite protest from its electorates to sell liquor down to the townships in the interiors, including to villages through mobile vans and provision stores having an annual turnover of 50 lakhs is worried about controlling the menace of drug addiction in the state. Well we still welcome it ?

The Uttarakhand chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat has recently appointed or agreed to appoint the prominent Bollywood hero and the son of the former actor, minister and MP late Sunil Dutt, Sanjay Dutt as the brand ambassador of Uttarakhand in its de drug addiction campaign from now onwards.

There is a general saying or a proverb commonly popular in Uttarakhand : SURYA ASTH UTTARAKHAND MAST ( SUN SETS AND THE STATE IS IN AN ENJOYFUL MODE). There have been several movements in Uttarakhand like the one launched by the TINCHRI MAAI and SHAMSHER SINGH BIST , social activist alongwith his dedicated team of social activists years ago known as : NASHA NAHI ROZGAAR DO, but the prevalence of liquor particularly the illicit and spurious liquor and those sold through official liquor vends have literally make the lives of the people of Uttarakhand a hell.

The women and the families are on the brink of financial disaster and the liquor addicts are dying of liver related severe ailments in large numbers. Just a few months ago the women and youths of the interior villages and townships in the hill state have opposed the opening of liquor vends on wide scale in various parts of Uttarakhand but the mighty government has curbed down the movement through force and pressure including allegedly allotting large number of liquor vends to the women.

The worst part of the whole development is that the authorities have even started mobile vans for selling liquor in the interior villages and towns against the wishes of the protesting women n youths. Today, Uttarakhand’s social fabric has been badly vitiated in view of the increasing influence of liquor consumption leading to the enhancement in crime rate and degradation in morality.

The government sources say, selling of liquor is necessary and mandatory in view of the states’ increasing fiscal deficit but the majority of the people say there should be prohibition on the lines of Bihar model.

The state generates 1500 to 2000 crores from the liquor sale in the state which is facing a whopping 44000 crores fiscal deficit.

Now just imagine, dose’nt it sounds ironical that a state where farming of poppy is being talked about to make it official and selling of liquor that too allegedly of substandard quality is being encouraged on mass scale, it’s political CEO and the minister concerned talk about drug de addiction and appoints Sanjay Dutt as the state’s de drug addiction ambassador.

Well, we do appreciate his efforts on this front and would definitely want that the state of Uttarakhand gets rid of this menace permanentally. But would it not be appropriate and in wider public interest that public awareness against liquor consumption should also be created on a mass scale and the government takes the initiative in this regard by way of lessening the number of liquor outlets and vends in Uttarakhand particularly in the interior hills and villages where families are becoming economically, socially and culturally scattered and in shambles and people losing their precious lives with children’s studies and education career being adversely affected.

It may be recalled that Sanjay Dutt had been the drug addict during his initial phase as an actor and his father Sunil Dutt had been the biggest crusader against drug addiction who had organised a walk from Mumbai to Punjab alongwith his supporters in his capacity as the chairman of the Anti drug addiction cell of the All India Congress Committee.

The chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat had been in Mumbai last week where he met number of film personalities and stars and telephonically talked to Sanjay Dutt to agree to his proposal to be the brand de addiction ambassador of Uttarakhand to which he happily agreed say the news reports.

It’s indeed a welcome intiative on the part of the Uttarakhand CM to mobilise the youths and the people against this dreaded menace but it would be more welcome if he also pays his extra attention on the liquor de addiction in the state called the land of abode of Gods.

Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt visited Tehri Garhwal and Dehradun about four years ago during the former Congress chief minister Vijay Bahuguna’s tenure on his personal request when the latter called him to Uttarakhand for his son Saket Bahuguna’s campaigning when he was contesting as the Congress party’s candidate from Tehri Garhwal parliamentary contest which he lost to his BJP rival.

What’s your take friends?