Mahouts happy at government decision

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Most of the  guidelines in the order issued by the State Government, including restricting the ‘booze parties’ to mahouts by the festival committees for the safety of the captive elephants, have been welcomed by the mahouts.  "We were trying to reduce alcoholism among our members for long. There was a decline in the number and the trend is positive since the Forest Department started counselling classes a few years ago," says Babu M Palissery MLA, who is also the president of Kerala State Elephant Workers Union, an organisation of 348 mahouts which was constituted three years ago.  In a step to curb violent attacks by captive elephants during festival processions, the State Government had issued an order on January 21 this year,  prohibiting members of festival committee serving any intoxicating material to the mahouts, among the thirty other guidelines. ‘’The allegations on the drinking habit of the mahouts are often a bit exaggerated. It was true when mahouts were an unorganised sector and almost a hardened lot considering the nature of the work. Though there is no attraction for the job, it is just their ‘craze’ that drives them to the jumbo,’’ said Palissery, who represents Kunnamkulam in the Assembly, the centre of an area of festivals with participation of large number of elephants, irrespective of religion. He expects the new guideline in the order to the festival committee to provide food and shelter to the mahouts while participating in festivals, as a positive sign as it will reduce  the number of  elephants in a pooram."We did not have any untoward incident in the last eight years since we started the pooram, as we follow strict guidelines even before the government introduced it," says N Priyarenjan, one of those elephant lovers who organise ‘pooram’ with an average of 15 to 21 jumbos at the Elamgulam Dharama Sastha Temple in Kottayam district.