At the end of the day, the roles were reversed: The message came from the public to the police. The common thread of the speeches was that the police needed to clean up its act first. And that an awareness function was merely the first step in the right direction.

And while the speakers openly accused the police of surreptitiously promoting the smuggling and sale of liquor in the villages of the taluka, no police officer, however senior or junior, on the dais or in the audience, said a word in defence.

Congress MLA from Chhotaudepur Sukhram Rathwa was the harshest, alleging that the police had been virtually forcing people to run liquor dens against their will so that they could collect `hafta'. Social workers working on de-addiction drives were being threatened by those operating liquor shops while the police looked the other way when informed by `bhagats' (tribals abstaining from liquor and meat), he said. ``In fact, liquor sellers have emerged as powerful pressure groups in villages because the police listen to them'', he stated.

Lok Sabha member Naranbhai Rathwa welcomed the concept of the programme, but said sants of various communities had been carrying out the campaign more successfully through bhajan and kathas.

He also charged the police with complicity in the smuggling and sale of liquor, and said the problem could be checked if prohibition laws were enforced strictly.

Several persons from different villages attending the function said the situation was very serious and held the police responsible for sale of liquor. Mansinh Dharija Rathwa, a resident of Maleja village, Mohanbhai Muljibhai Wanakar of Vasedi village and Mansinh Jaisinh of Ganthia village said police patronage of liquor mafias was responsible for the spread of the liquor problem.

The only line of defence was from District Superintendent of Police(Rural) Shamsher Singh, who frankly admitted that the police had been ineffective in checking the problem, but said public help was a must for any such programme to succeed.