Keradi is a village in

Kundapur Taluk Kundapura Taluk is a taluk located in Udupi district in the Indian state of Karnataka. Kundapur town is the taluk headquarters of Kundapur Taluk. Demographics As of the 2011 Census of India, Kundapura Taluk had 79573 households with a populat ...

Udupi district Udupi district (also Udipi or Odipu in Tulu language) is an administrative subdivision in the Karnataka state of India, with the district headquarters in the city of Udupi. It is situated in the Canara coastal region, there are seven taluks, ...

in the southern state of

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

, India. The village falls in an

Eco-Sensitive Zone Eco-Sensitive Zones (ESZs) or Ecologically Fragile Areas (EFAs) are areas in India notified by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC), Government of India around Protected Areas, National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries ...

close to the

Mookambika Wildlife Sanctuary Mookambika Wildlife Sanctuary is a protected wildlife sanctuary in the southern state of Karnataka in India. It derives its name from the presiding deity " Goddess Mookambika" of the popular Kollur Mookambika Temple. The sanctuary lies in the We ...

Demographics

As of the

2011 Census of India The 2011 Census of India or the 15th Indian Census was conducted in two phases, house listing and population enumeration. The House listing phase began on 1 April 2010 and involved the collection of information about all buildings. Information ...

, Keradi had 512

household A household consists of two or more persons who live in the same dwelling. It may be of a single family or another type of person group. The household is the basic unit of analysis in many social, microeconomic and government models, and is im ...

s and a population of 2574 with 1244 males and 1330 females. Of the population, 1670 people were literate.

Makkala Panchayat

A unique initiative was taken up by the children of the village aged between 6 and 18, to address the issue of

alcoholism Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol (drug), alcohol that results in significant Mental health, mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognize ...

, which was widespread among the men of the village. They formed a ''Makkala Panchayat'' (children's local council), which worked with the

Gram panchayat Gram Panchayat () is a basic village-governing institute in Indian villages. It is a democratic structure at the grass-roots level in India. It is a political institute, acting as cabinet of the village. The Gram Sabha work as the general bod ...

(village council) and institutionalised the role of children in local decision-making. The Makkala Panchayat successfully reduced alcoholism through education, empowerment and tactful political manoeuvring. The children collected empty sachets of

arrack Arrack is a distilled alcoholic drink typically produced in India, Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia, made from the fermented sap of coconut flowers or sugarcane, and also with grain (e.g. red rice) or fruit depending upon the country of origin. It ...

from near the arrack shops and calculated that as much as Rs 1.2 million per year was being spent on it by the villages. They presented their findings to the

Taluk Panchayat Panchayat samiti is a rural local government (panchayat) body at the intermediate tehsil (taluka/mandal) level in India. It works for the villages of the tehsil that together are called a development block. It has been said to be the "panchayat ...

and the villagers. Seeing the huge financial cost, there was a unanimous call to take action, after which the unlicensed vendors were shut down. The children involved in the initiative have gone ahead to contribute towards tackling other

social issue A social issue is a problem that affects many people within a society. It is a group of common problems in present-day society and ones that many people strive to solve. It is often the consequence of factors extending beyond an individual's cont ...

s related to

child marriage Child marriage is a marriage or similar union, formal or informal, between a child under a certain age – typically 18 years – and an adult or another child. * * * * The vast majority of child marriages are between a female child and a ma ...

child labour Child labour refers to the exploitation of children through any form of work that deprives children of their childhood, interferes with their ability to attend regular school, and is mentally, physically, socially and morally harmful. Such e ...

, migrant families,

female feticide Sex-selective abortion is the practice of terminating a pregnancy based upon the predicted sex of the infant. The selective abortion of female fetuses is most common where male children are valued over female children, especially in parts of Eas ...

, and

HIV/AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ...

. The Panchayati Raj ministry of the

Government of Karnataka The Government of Karnataka, abbreviated as, GoK, or simply Karnataka Government, is a democratically-elected state body with the governor as the ceremonial head to govern the Southwest Indian state of Karnataka. The governor who is appointed ...

has acknowledged and institutionalised this effort and made it a requirement for all panchayats in the state to offer a venue for children to voice their concerns to elected officials.

In popular culture

The Kannada language film '' Kantara'' is set in Keradi and was also filmed there.

References

External links

* Villages in Udupi district {{Udupi-geo-stub

Demographics

Makkala Panchayat

In popular culture

See also

References

External links