Impact of Wadi Project on Addiction behaviour among the People of Nawagaon in Raigarh District, Chhattisgarh

This paper is based on the research work conducted on the tribes of Nawagaon village located in Dharmjaigarh block of Raigarh district, Chhattisgarh state. The Village exists among the opted villages of the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) for conducting its Wadi project in Chhattisgarh in which a Wadi is built around a one acre of land. In this land, the tribal farmers are growing cashew and mango for enhancing their economic condition. The project was implemented by Raigarh Sahyog Samiti, a registered non-government organization in the area. In order to determine the addiction behaviour among the villagers, two groups namely 58 beneficiary families those who were involved in the Wadi project and 117 non-beneficiary families those not engaged in the Wadi project were taken into consideration. Various substances like beedi/cigarette, tobacco, gutka, gudakhu, ganja, mahua beer/hadiya and alcohol were looked for its consumption intensity as an addictive material among the villagers of all age groups. Mostly, the nuclear families were found in both the groups. 73.40% persons were found to be literate having school level and graduation level education. Gudakhu is the most frequently addictive material used by the villagers. Then the consumption rate of mahua beer, tobacco, alcohol, beedi, gutka and ganja as an addictive substance was in a decreasing order by the people of this village.