Mumbai University students working to get hooch victims' families their rights

Mumbai University students, who have organised themselves into a group called University Community for Democracy and Equality (UCDE), are working with the victims of the Malvani hooch tragedy. They have conducted a survey of victims' families, and have found out that 50% of the 102 families do not have bank accounts, and will therefore not be able to get the compensation announced by the state government.

Satyanarayan Nyol, a UCDE member, said, "Group of seven to eight students who are from UCDE group are working in Malad with the hooch victims' families. We have noted down the details of the family members of the deceased. According to our survey, 50 percent of families that received compensation don't have bank account. There are also families who have, immediately after the death of their family member, left the area and returned to their village."

The hooch tragedy claimed 102 lives. Forty-six people admitted to hospital have now been discharged. The methanol that is present in hooch causes severe organ damage. According to the UCDE survey, some residents of Malad who consumed hooch have lost their eyes. Methanol has the effect of blurring the vision temporarily or permanently as it has the capacity to damage the optic nerve in the brain.

The UCDE group have organised members of 11 families of hooch victims into a committee named Malvani Daru Kand Sangharsh Samiti. The committee includes Narayan Kharade, a University student as well.

Kharade, a PhD student from the University and UCDE member, said, "We are protesting tomorrow (Tuesday) at Azad Maidan with the family members of the deceased. Our demands are that the government should pay Rs10 lakh as compensation to the family members of the deceased, and Rs5 lakh to the people who have organ damage due to consumption of hooch. We have also demanded that the government take care of the education of the children of the deceased. We will be sending a letter listing our demands to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as well as Excise minister Eknath Khadse."

The UCDE demands that appropriate punishment be handed out to the manufacturers and sellers of hooch.