'Don’t get your daughter or sister married to an alcoholic': Union minister advises people, explains how it led to his son's death

Union Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Kaushal Kishore appealed to people not to get their daughters and sisters married to alcoholics, saying that a labourer or rickshaw puller would make a better husband than an alcoholic officer.

While speaking at a de-addiction program in the Lambhua assembly constituency on Saturday, Kishore said, “The lifespan of an alcoholic is very less.”

He described his personal experience, saying, “When I as an MP and my wife as an MLA could not save the life of our son, then how will the common public do so.” “My son (Akash Kishore) was into the habit of consuming alcohol with his friends. He was admitted to a de-addiction centre. Assuming that he will quit the bad habit, he was married after six months. However, he started drinking again after his marriage, and that eventually led to his death. Two years ago, on October 19, when Akash passed away, his son was barely two years old,” the Union minister added.

“I could not save my son, due to which his wife became a widow. You must save your daughters and sisters from this,” Kishore added. “In the freedom movement, 6.32 lakh people had sacrificed their lives fighting the British in a span of 90 years, while due to addiction, every year around 20 lakh people die,” the minister noted.

Around 80% of cancer deaths, according to the MP from Mohanlalganj Lok Sabha constituency in Uttar Pradesh, are caused by tobacco, cigarette, and "bidi" addiction.

He urged the audience and other groups to join the de-addiction program and save their families.

The minister went on to say that the de-addiction campaign should be introduced to all schools and that children should receive advice on this during morning prayers in order to make the district addiction-free.