By Malini Manjoly
Patna: The Sisters of Charity of Nazareth, their trainees and students on Jan. 21 joined a human chain to press for an addiction-free Bihar.
An estimated 20 million people linked hands along 11,292-km chain that passed through the state capital of Patna and five other cities.
University students and school children in colorful uniforms and their teachers were seen on various roads of Patna, Sitamarhi, Muzaffarpur, Vaishali, Gaya and Jehanabad.
Suraj Kumar, a student of Mainpura Government Middle School in Patna said, “I am standing with my friends to make Bihar addiction free.”
His father is a casual labourer, who used to drink daily, pick up fights and beat up his mother. “I used to be ashamed of my father. Now we have peace at home,” the teenager told Matters India. He further said that he and his friends want to see a Bihar free of liquor in future.
Bihar has implement total prohibition.
In Bakhtiarpur, around 40 km east of Patna, women of the self-help groups welcomed the prohibition.
Kabuthri Devi from Rewaich village said, “With no alcohol, the men do not drink these days. Domestic violence is less and there is peace in the family. My children are able to study at home.” She further said that they now eat well as their men regularly go to work and bring home money.
Students and teachers of Pushpa Vidyala, a school the Nazareth Sisters manage for Patna archdiocese in Bakhtiarpur, joined the human chain on the national highway 30.
Sister Leena Padam who mobilizes the women in the area said, “Bihar migrant workers are saving their hard earned money in the banks to use it for proper cause.”
She also said that as a whole the health status of people has increased since they eat a balanced diet. Children who used to do home work in public places are able to do the same in their homes.
Around 1,000 students, 100 teachers and support staff of Nazareth Academy of the Nazareth Sisters in Gaya joined the human chain from the flyover to Mirza Ghalib College in the ancient city.
Sister Mary Kadaparambil, vice principal of the school said, the teachers and students participated in the human chain with enthusiasm for they would like to see their Bihar a better place.
In Mokama, 60 km east of Patna, teachers and nuns of Nazareth Academy joined the chain in the market place.
Addiction-free Bihar is a cause that all Nazareth Sisters would support no matter who has initiated this noble cause to make the lives of children and women a better one, said Sister Rena Fernandes, principal of Nazareth Academy, Mokama.