Teachers working as enumerators for Punjab’s first-ever “Drug and Socio-Economic Census” have allegedly been instructed not to count alcoholics — people unable to control or stop drinking — as addicts while recording survey responses on the ground.

“So when we ask the question, ‘Is any family member having an addiction problem?’ and the respondent replies ‘liquor’, we do not record it as an addiction. We record their response as ‘No’ instead of ‘Yes’. Mostly, it is rural women who reveal that their husbands consume too much liquor and indulge in domestic violence, but we politely tell them that liquor addiction cannot be counted. That’s what we were instructed during the training,” said a teacher from Sangrur district.

Several teacher-enumerators across districts told The Indian Express that during training for the Drug Census, they were clearly instructed that alcohol addiction was not to be included in responses.

“We were not given any specific reason for it but simply told to record ‘No’ if someone says liquor. All teachers undergoing training started laughing and sarcastically said, ‘So it means liquor is a good thing, it is not a drug, so one should start drinking’,” said a teacher from Fazilka district.

Confirming that teachers have been told to exclude alcohol, Harsh Sehgal, coordinator cum trainer for the drug census, Ferozepur district, said: “Alcohol addiction is not being counted as it is a legally sold product permitted by the government. We are only following the instructions received from Punjab government.”

👁 punjab alcohol abuse data

The extent of alcohol abuse in Punjab had earlier been flagged in the 2019 national survey, “Magnitude of Substance Abuse in India”, released by the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment in collaboration with All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi.

The report identified Punjab among the top 10 states with people needing help for alcohol-related problems. Punjab was also among the states with the “highest prevalence of alcohol use and dependency”. More concerningly, the report noted that Punjab had “the highest proportion of children reporting alcohol use (10-17 years)”. The report described alcohol as “the most common psychoactive substance used by Indians”.

However, confusion appears to persist over whether alcohol abuse is to be treated as an addiction in the ongoing Census exercise.

While the written training manual supplied to enumerators states that liquor and tobacco use are to be considered addictions, several teachers claimed that verbal instructions contradicted the written guidelines.

Page 28 of the Drug Census training manual states: “Question: Is this family member having drug problem? If the answer is ‘Yes’, this indicates that the respondent is suffering from drug abuse, which includes liquor, tobacco abuse, consuming psychotropic drugs without doctor’s consultation, and illegal drugs. This indicates the need for counselling, treatment and awareness programmes.”

Teachers on the ground said the contradictory instructions had left them confused.

“During the training, we were told that alcohol addiction is not to be included. Trainers said that since liquor is legally available on vends, it cannot be counted. During the survey, two-three women revealed to me that their husbands drink heavily and then beat them. But as per instructions, I recorded their response as ‘No’. The husband of one such woman was lying drunk in front of me and even started misbehaving. But even then, I had to turn a blind eye as we were told ‘sharaab nu nasha nahi manna’ (liquor is not to be considered an addiction),” said a teacher from a border village in Fazilka district.

“Being teachers, we know many such families where children have lost their fathers to alcohol addiction, but what can we do?” said another teacher.

“One probable reason could be that liquor is socially acceptable and legally available. Another could be that everyone knows more than half of Punjab drinks, and this way the final survey report will show high levels of addiction. Maybe the government wants the numbers to remain low ahead of elections. Anyway, hardly anyone is revealing synthetic drug or opioid addiction such as heroin or smack. But it feels bad when women tell us how alcohol has devastated their homes and we still record ‘No’ as their response. It feels like cheating. The entire exercise seems futile,” said a teacher from Ludhiana district.

Experts said excluding alcohol abuse would distort the actual addiction burden in Punjab.

Dr Anirudh Kala, a senior psychiatrist and de-addiction specialist from Ludhiana, said: “Alcohol is the most easily accessible, legal and common addiction in Punjab. Once an individual cannot control the quantity consumed, the condition requires proper treatment. It not only causes liver damage and cancer but is also a major reason for domestic violence and road accidents. If this Census is not including alcohol, it should be renamed as ‘Survey of Addiction to Illegal Drugs’. Alcohol is a drug as it contains ethyl alcohol, a psychoactive intoxicating ingredient. Just because it is legal does not mean alcohol is not an addiction, and the same goes for tobacco.”

He added: “Alcohol abuse is way higher than heroin and opium. Rather than teachers, trained social workers would have been a better choice to conduct such surveys because they know how to deal with addicts. The first tendency of addicts and their families is a plain ‘No’. They never admit it on being asked once. One has to counsel them in a compassionate way.”

Dr Debashish Basu, former head of the Department of Psychiatry at PGIMER, Chandigarh and now a senior consultant at Fortis Medcentre, said: “Alcohol can even lead to other addictions. In terms of volume of dependence, alcohol abuse is far higher than other drugs. Alcohol is a legal substance, so social and casual drinking is fine, but it is the quantity being consumed that needs to be studied. So if any such Census is being conducted, alcohol should definitely be taken into account. If you ask someone whether they are an addict, it has to include alcohol and tobacco abuse. If they are not doing so, it is wrong.”

Dr Jagdish Bhola, Punjab’s state programme officer for de-addiction, said: “Alcohol is an addiction and we treat alcoholics at de-addiction centres, but social drinking cannot be termed as addiction. From Punjab’s viewpoint, the alcohol factor is also hyped and many people just drink in moderate quantity. The Census is probably trying to identify synthetic drug users burdening the state. Less troubling issues such as alcohol can be dealt with later through a step-by-step approach.”

Raj Lalli Gill, chairperson, Punjab State Commission for Women, said: “We come across such cases daily where alcohol is the prime factor behind domestic violence and divorces. It affects children in the worst way. It also leads to sexual harassment inside and outside homes. It is disappointing that alcohol is not counted among drugs. Alcoholics need to be identified and treated.”

Responding to the issue, Parneet Kaur, assistant director, department of rural development and panchayats, which is conducting the survey, said: “We are not asking for the type of drug or addiction being consumed. If a family thinks that alcohol has become an addiction in their household, they can reply ‘Yes’ to being an addict. The training for enumerators has been conducted by the private company which developed the mobile app to record responses.”

Amit Talwar, special secretary, rural development and panchayats, and nodal officer for Drug Census, said: “They might have been asked to exclude alcohol as then we also have to get into quantity consumed and related details. Otherwise, if a family feels alcohol is a major addiction in the house, they can get it recorded.”