Majestic Pandal contest
Globally acknowledging some of the most thought provoking and beautifully crafted Durga Puja pandals and idols this year, The Art of Living announced the results of the Majestic Pandal Contest, held for the first time.
A tribal village, Lariapali, situated 98 kms away from Sambalpur, was poverty and addiction stricken. The tribals living there depended on rain fed farming and forest produce for its livelihood. What made it worse was the severity of health problems with addiction led liver and kidney malfunction, and anemia became rampant.
Today things have changed for the better.
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The small tribal village is alcohol and drug addiction free today, said volunteers of the Art of Living. This gains relevance from the fact that, according to a survey carried out by Bharat Nirman Volunteers, out of 1101 households surveyed, 720 had admitted alcohol addicts and 811 admitted cannabis, tobacco and other substance addicts.
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Community mobilization, awareness drives and behavioral training workshops organized by The Art of Living volunteers with the•support of the head of the Gram Panchayat Shukri Kujur and his followers have brought large scale attitudinal shifts in this particular village.
Lariappali Gram Panchayat has been nominated among top 10 village panchayats for National Awards for outstanding services in the field of Prevention of Alcoholism and Substance (Drug) Abuse, 2018.
It took three years of sustained efforts to achieve this ‘Model Village’. The Art of Living conducted ethical and motivational training of these volunteers to become development agents for bringing about positive attitudinal change in the tribal population.
Excise department officers said the level of alcohol consumption in the 9 revenue villages and three hamlets of Lariapalli panchayat have become zero. There were 6 excise cases of illicit selling of country liquor in the year 2016-17, which have come down to 3 cases in 2017-18 and zero this year.
An SHG run by 10 women goes door to door to check if anyone is selling illicit liquor, they fine them Rs.5,000 for the first time and Rs.10,000 for second time offence.
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