Ban on white jaggery sale hits several sections hard

Warangal: The excise and prohibition department’s decision to impose ban on sale of jaggery in the district in a bid to curb brewing of illicit liquor (Gudumba) has hit several sections hard.

Traders lost their business, workers livelihood is affected and commonman is finding it difficult to find even a crumb of white jaggery used both in daily use and for preparing prasadam (religious offering) to offer to the gods.

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HIGHLIGHTS:

• Excise department imposed ban on the sale of white jaggery in the district in June
• Traders lost their business and workers’ their livelihood
• Public not getting a piece of jaggery to prepare prasadam

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With the beginning of Bonalu festival season a few days ago, situation has become worse for the devotees. ‘During Bonalu it is customary to prepare the sacred offering ‘Bonam’ using jaggery, but we are unable to find it,’ complained an elderly woman, called Alugoju Bhadramma.

“On Toli Ekadasi day on July 4, we wanted to prepare a prasadam using jaggery. I visited nearly every shop in Warangal but could not find a piece of jaggery. Then we used sugar as an alternate,” explained a resident of Mattewada, M Ajay Kumar. The same is the plight of diabetic patients.

The doctors advise the patients to consume jaggery instead of sugar and old generation people prefer jaggery in the place of sugar in their daily use. Its non- availability is troubling them all, complained diabetic patient M Satyanarayana of Warangal.

All this happened due to the excise department official’s directions in June to jaggery traders to stop selling white jaggery for a month in view of the State Formation Day to ensure the district free from gudumba. But the traders claimed that normally black jaggery is used in gudumba prepration, not white jaggery.

“After one month when we asked the officials to permit to sell the produce, they told us that matter is not in their hands now. They suggested us to go higher ups like excise commissioner, director and deputy commissioner,” complained Madarapu Sadashivudu, the president of Jaggery Merchants Association.

There are about nine wholesale shops in Warangal city that supplies the produce to five districts of erstwhile Warangal district, besides numerous small dealers. It is estimated that nearly120 tonnes of jaggery is sold in a month and the quantity goes up in the festive seasons.

Sadashivudu told The Hans India that the leaders of Warangal Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Jaggery Merchants Association have submitted a memorandum to the Excise Deputy Commissioner and the District Collector on June 30. But there is no response so far.

“We the traders have all required valid licenses to carry out the business and request the officials to revive the sale of jaggery trade in the city. We are ready to sell the produce by following whatever norms the excise officials intend to suggest,” he appealed.

The livelihood of nearly 300 hamalies and clerks, depend on jaggery trade, is affected, besides the drivers and owners of vehicles engaged in transportation. Similarly, hundreds of workers from Tamil Nadu engaged here in Palli Patti (Peanut chikki) making industry are out of work.

If the ban on sale of jaggery continues it could have serious impact on devotees during Medaram Sammakka Saralamma Jatara in next February as jaggery is the main offering to the deities, Sadashivudu surmised.