Lacchobai Daheriya - A woman. A leader. An inspiration

A woman with extraordinary hope and courage to strive, the uneducated Lacchobai Daheriya took on the mantle to eliminate alcoholism from her village Chikhla, in the far interiors of Madhya Pradesh.

Aggrieved by rampant alcoholism among the men and drunken abuse of the women, Lacchobai Daheriya, worked with Reliance Foundation to eliminate this evil in her village.

Today, Chikhla is free from the perils of alcoholism and abuse. Here’s her story...

Today, the village of Chilkha is very prosperous. All the men in the village are working hard and earning a living but this was not always the case.

Lacchobai lives in Chilkha village, her husband was paralyzed and hence wasn’t able to work. When Reliance Foundation representatives first came to the village, they saw the rampant alcoholism which plagued the village. She herself had thought a lot about this problem herself. The men of the village were always drunk and were least concerned about their responsibilities. Some men had even started selling alcohol in the village.

Once drunk, the men used to abuse their wives and Lacchobai couldn’t bear to see it continue in the village. She felt that women were facing a lot of atrocities. They shouldn’t have to bear the torture and the never ending abuse. Afterall, the women also had some rights. She wasn’t able to do much, couldn’t say much, trying to reason with men was futile.

Lachhobai says – ‘I used to go up to them and ask why they were torturing their wives. Their response was they could do anything to their wives.’

When Reliance Foundation came to the remote village of Chilkha, they requested the head of the village to facilitate an exposure visit for the women. The women would be taken to an ideal village to inspire them to take action and bring positive change. Then three women, including Lacchobai were taken to visit the ‘ideal’ village free of alcohol.

‘When we reached there, we saw that there was absolutely no alcohol in their entire village. We discussed internally that we should try and bring about this change in our village too.’- noted Lacchobai

When the women went to the police station to seek help, the police officers there readily agreed to help them and assured them of support. Lacchobai organized rallies and told everyone that all these trade of alcohol would have to stop. After the rally, the women of the village gathered for a meeting in which, they set some rules and decided that if someone doesn’t follow the rules, they would be fined. The alcohol shop owners were given 8 days to sell their stock outside the village and warned them to never again sell alcohol in the village.

There was one man who didn’t agree to what the women said and started secretly sneaking alcohol into the village. The women seized 30 alcohol bottles from the shop owner and handed them over to the village authorities. This is how Chilkha was made alcohol-free.

Lacchobai says – ‘Reliance Foundation has helped me feel self-assured and confident. The woman, who would never step out of her house before, can now raise her voice against the social evils in the villages and work towards its betterment. Because of my strong will to improve the condition of my village, I was elected the chairperson of Krishi Vikas Sangathan.’

Lacchobai adds- ‘I am extremely thankful to the Reliance Foundation for all their support.’