Had everything gone right, these women from ward number 6 in Satara’s Sadar Bazar area would have seen the last of the liquor shop that was a menace in their locality. They wanted it shut down. But a government rule which says that 50% of the total votes must be in favour of the closure did them in. They fell short by 19 votes.
The voting for the closure of the liquor shop was held on Wednesday. Of a total number of1,151 voters, 606 women voted. As many as 557 opposed the shop’s functioning while 25 votes favoured its operation. As many as 24 votes were found invalid. The women needed 576 votes, but the votes favouring the closure added up to 48.39% of the total number.
As a result, the liquor shop will remain for now. Social activist Sunetra Bhadre and corporator Sharda Jadhav, who led the initiative, were deeply disappointed.
Vilasbaba Javalkar, an activist of the De-addiction Organisation, said, “We helped mobilise the women. Their enthusiastic response made us hopeful.”
Satara’s district officer (state excise duty) had instructed that the women whose names figured in the voters’ list issued by the government on September 25, 2009, could take part in this process. The polling was carried out between 8am and 2pm on Wednesday at the Sumitraraje Bhosale Library in Sadar Bazar.
Javalkar said that in the run-up to the voting, women had carried out awareness rallies in the city and campaigned among their peers on a massive scale. Though down, the women have refused to give up. Along with the local activists, they are already exploring the next course of action.
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