4 min readMay 16, 2026 09:26 AM IST
Gujarat’s only total tribal-district, Dang, saw an entire village support a resolution to ban consumption and sale of any kind of liquor that also imposes heavy penalties, going as far as “ostracization” of involved families.
The gram panchayat of Garudiya village with a population of nearly 1,500 passed a resolution on Thursday banning the “sale of IMFL (Indian Made Foreign Liquor) or country-brewed liquor,” which is already banned under the state’s strict prohibition law.
Garudiya is a village of Subir taluka and shares its border with Nandurbar district in Maharashtra, a wet state.
On Thursday, sarpanch K M Kamri convened a gram panchayat meeting and proposed banning the sale and consumption of liquor in the village. The proposal was approved by all panchayat members. A copy of the resolution was submitted to the Subir police station. After the resolution passed, the village sarpanch convened a meeting of villagers and announced the details in it. The sarpanch has formed a five-member ‘Dekh Rekh (supervision) committee’ to monitor liquor-related activities in the village.
The resolution states: “The ‘Dekh Rekh’ committee, formed by the Gram Panchayat and headed by the village sarpanch, will ensure that no person in the village manufactures, sells, or consumes country-made liquor or IMFL. If anyone is found in a drunken condition, a penalty of Rs 25,000 will be recovered from them and they will also be subject to a police case. No one from the village will support the accused in obtaining bail during the police procedure. If anybody from the village or outside gives a tip-off to the Dekh Rekh committee about the sale or consumption of IMFL/country-made liquor, they will be rewarded with Rs 10,000 recovered from the accused, and the remaining Rs 15,000 (from the penalty) will be deposited in the Gram Panchayat fund.”
The village’s primary occupation is agriculture, but alcohol consumption is common among the people.
The resolution also states, “If anybody enters the village in an inebriated state and is caught by the villagers or the committee, he/she will also have to pay a penalty of Rs 10,000. Apart from this, if anyone violates the resolution even after being caught once, their family will be barred from social contact and other religious functions in the village. Not a single member of the village will participate in any events by such a family.”
Sarpanch Kamri told this newspaper, “Many people have died due to liquor consumption. In our village, both men and women consume liquor and even offer it to people at funerals, weddings, and religious events. Now, to overcome the vice of liquor consumption, we have adopted a resolution to save the lives of our village people.”
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He added: “Our village is around 15 km from the Maharashtra border, and people used to travel frequently to the neighbouring state for work and other social activities. They consume liquor there or bring it here to sell to locals or consume it themselves. We want to make our village liquor-free, and to that end, we have taken the following steps. For tribals living in our village, Rs. 25,000 is a big amount, and they will be afraid of committing such a sin.”
Subir Police Station Inspector H B Patel said: “The consumption of liquor is common among the people of Dang. Each year, we make out around 8 to 10 prohibition cases in Garudiya village. The villagers consume both country-made liquor and IMFL. When our team arrives in the village for raids, the liquor is nowhere to be found. We appreciate the step taken by the Garudiya village sarpanch and assured him of our full support.”
