From 'kachchi sharaab' to 'heritage liquor': The evolution of 'Mahua' in Madhya Pradesh

Kachchi sharaab will soon be stacked on show in liquor shops in Madhya Pradesh. On Monday, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced that the state government will be bringing a new excise policy that will legalise liquor made out of mahua. This legalised mahua liquor will be sold as "heritage liquor" in wine shops.

“The government is devising an excise policy under which if anyone makes liquor made of Mahua in a traditional way, it will not be illegal anymore. It will be sold in the liquor shops with the name of Heritage liquor which would be a source of employment and income for the tribal people who have been making and consuming it,” CM Chouhan said at the Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas in Mandla.

The news comes days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off Tribal Pride Day celebrations in MP’s capital Bhopal on freedom fighter Birsa Munda’s birth anniversary.

Congress condemned the move from the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government, calling the decision to legalise ‘kacchi sharab’ as BJP’s moral decline. Congress spokesperson KK Mishra was quoted by ANI as saying that the state government’s decision to legalise ‘kacchi sharab’ was unfortunate. Mishra said, “It is unfortunate that the government has taken the decision to legalise 'kacchi sharab' when more than 50 people have lost their lives after the consumption of spurious liquor. Despite this, the government is bringing such a policy.”