Alcoholism – a social evil among the tribals of Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh

Kinnaur, a tribal district of Himachal Pradesh is surrounded by Tibet in the east, Uttarakhand and Rohru Tehsil of Shimla district in south, Shimla district in south-west and regions of Kullu and Lahaul and Spiti in north-west. The people here mainly grow wheat, barley, maize and lesser millets like Ogla ( Phagopyrum esculentum ), Phaphra ( P tataricum ) etc. The district is well known for apple. Grapes, pear, wild apricot and wild peaches grow here in abundance. People use these fruits to prepare local liquor called ‘Ghanti’ in their local language. Taking of alcoholic drinks in their day to day life and also on the ceremonial or festive occasions is quite common among them. Alcohol is distilled at the household level. It is made out of fruits like grapes, apple, wild apricot, pear etc grown locally and of barley (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinnaur district). It has been concluded from the study th at scien tific efforts should be made by the scientists concer ned for the improvement of local varieties of fruits. Though total prohibition in the district seems to be difficult yet effort can be made to modify the existing rules, higher fees for i ssuing permit/ license can be charged and the extraction of liquor can be made legalized with quality control as essential condition.