25-07-2025
1/5th of 2.5 lakh toddy consumers in Hyd are women
Hyderabad: Although only 2 to 2.5 per cent of the population in Greater Hyderabad limits consume toddy, 15 to 20 per cent of these consumers are women, who drink mainly to overcome the stress and strain of the day-long hard work they do in their respective fields. To cater to the needs of such consumers, there are 42 toddy societies, which supply toddy to 97 toddy shops/depots across the city. According to the Telangana Goud Kallu Geeta Sanghala Samanvaya Committee (TGKGSSC) members, the consumption per depot ranges from 10 cases to 500 cases per day depending on the consumer base. Each case contains 24 bottles (each bottle is about 750 ml) and the prices range from Rs 50 to Rs 70 per bottle, depending on the demand and availability of the toddy.
The Gouda Jana Hakkula Porata Samithi president, Yelikatte Vijay Kumar Goud, said that since there were no trees from which toddy could be tapped in the city, the societies had been allocated trees in villages. Each society is allocated trees ranging from 400 to 500 trees. They have workers who climb the trees and the toddy is transported to the depots. As per the GO issued during the BRS government, there were 42 societies and 103 toddy depots. However, presently only 97 toddy depots are functioning, said Vijay Kumar Goud. He further said that the trees were allocated with a gazette order from the district collector, leaving no scope for adulteration at source.
'The tappers see toddy tapping as a sacred profession; hence, they dedicate their entire life to the profession,' said Vijay Kumar Goud. He said that among consumers of toddy, 15 to 20 per cent are women. Generally, the older generation consumes toddy and this phenomenon is not seen among the younger ones. The women who are into hard physical labour like construction workers, domestic maids consume toddy. Their consumption ranges from one to two bottles a day.
The recent incident in Hyderabad, involving over a dozen deaths due to consumption of adulterated toddy, resulted in a flurry of official activity, with some officials bent upon closing the toddy shops in the city, following valid questions raised over the safety of the health of toddy consumers.
However, according to the TGKGSSC state convener Venkanna Goud, wherever such an incident takes place, there should be strict action only against those responsible for adulteration. 'We are totally against adulteration and the persons responsible are in jails. But taking this incident and talking about banning toddy consumption is not a good idea. About 15 lakh to 20 lakh people depend on this profession, including the Gouds, Wadrangis, Koyas, Are-Katikas.
Banning will have a big impact on their livelihood,' said Venkanna Goud. He said that there was little scope for adulteration as a vehicle (lorry) is assigned to the society with registration numbers, the excise department officials take samples of the toddy as it reaches the depots. There is entire official machinery which is taking care of the supply chain.
One incident cannot be taken as the reason valid enough to impose a blanket ban on the profession, he said.
There are 8,500 Toddy Cooperative Societies (TCS) and 2,800 tappers in the State. While toddy from palm trees (Indian date) is available for three months in a year, for the remaining period toddy from Thati chettu (palmyra palm) is available, thus keeping the supply going for the entire year, he added.
