With all round development, Gangadevipalli has been honoured for turning itself into a model village located in Warangal district with liquor-free tag.

According to a report published in TOI on Monday, KCR, will be launching the ‘Grama Jyoti Programme’ at Gangadevipalli taken upon himself to promote consumption of `safe and healthy’ as liquor illicitly-brewed booze find no place in Telangana and hard-working people must be given cheaper and safer substitute liquor with the intention that they do not fall into the trap of consuming gudumba, but in disagreement with one particular belief of the villagers at Gangadevipalli.

The villagers are of the views that any kind of booze is the bane of rural life. The inhabitants of the village has gave up all kinds of booze 35 years ago, a fact that has played no small part in its rise as a model village.

“The village was steeped in poverty and the primary reason was the illicit liquor that was available round the clock. People were falling ill, staying away from work, which in turn affected their income.They started borrowing money to fuel their liquor addiction and as a consequence domestic fights were the order of the day,” said Kusum Rajamouli, the former sarpanch credited for the turnaround in the village.

Liquor consumption by men resulted in suicidal deaths by three women from the village which forcedthe villagers to take concrete action against such objectionable thing.

“We held a grama sabha in 1980, where we talked about the losses accruing to families due to liquor. We managed to get everyone on board the idea of stopping liquor manufacture and sale in the village,” Rajamouli said.

While discussions were trouble-free, the implementation of the no-liquor policy was challenging. By 1982, the gram panchayat had declared the village liquor-free.

“Once we got rid of drinking, things improved dramatically. Suddenly, the village was peaceful, women were happier. No longer under stress caused by liquor playing havoc with their families, they began taking part in community activities in large numbers,” Rajamouli said.

Today, Gangadevipally is still liquor free. Still, a few challenges remain. “This is something we have not been able to stop,” admitted Rajamouli.

When asked if the village would invite legal liquor into the Gangadevipally, Rajamouli was strong in his opposition.

“It took us 33 years to get where we are today. That is only because there is no liquor in the village. Today, we have protected and guaranteed water supply, we pay our bills on time, everyone in the village repays their loans to the banks on time, we educate all our children and everyone in the village is literate. Something like this would have not been possible if liquor of any kind was part of the people’s lives,” declared Rajamouli,

Rajamouli was honoured by the CM a few days ago at a preparatory meeting on Grama Jyothi held in Hyderabad.