While people apparently have responded to the advertisement campaign, calling up to inform officers if someone is drinking in the neighbourhood, the department itself hasn't been able to enforce the drive as it should have, allegedly because of a staff shortage and money problems.

Incidentally, the commissionerate has not even paid the advertising agency that created the campaign. And unless they do and present the bills to the ministry concerned the government will not be releasing funds.

Ironically, the unpaid-for advertisement campaign has succeeded in driving home the message that drinking could be synonymous with trouble: police cases, hefty fines and notoriety. ``A few raids in the upmarket localities of Satellite and Drive-in Road have been enough to scare those who dared to drink in public'', said a senior commissionerate officer, adding that most raids were triggered by phone-call complaints.

The initial success, however, could not be followed up by a sustained campaign because of financial mess-up. Of the Rs 80 lakhs allocated to the commissionerate for 1997-98, Rs 45 lakhs was earmarked for the advertisement campaign. The department spent Rs 37 lakhs on inserting advertisements in newspapers and journals and putting up posters and hoardings.

However, departmental sources said Rs 15 lakhs allotted for the campaign had lapsed because the department had not paid the ad agency bills. ``Unless the bills are cleared, the allocation is not cleared'', explained sources.

More than the money factor, however, it is the staff shortage that is bothering the department. There had been many times in the past few months when the department was manned by only a couple of jawans, while the rest were deployed to handle VIP security.

All the heartburn, however, would have been worth it if the results were satisfactory. Officials, however, admitted that it was difficult to brainwash people into quitting alcohol in a short span of time. ``If you have to check the habits of a tippler, you have to be patient,'' commented an officer.

Claiming the drive had received an overwhelming response from the people, Vadodara police chief Kuldeep Sharma, who had initiated the drive as prohibition commissioner, admitted, however, that the department was facing a staff shortage. Prohibition Minister Fakirbhai Vaghela agreed.

The commissionerate, however, can take heart that they'll be able to pick up the drive from where the left off from the figures. In 13 days, the prohibition control rooms at Ahmedabad, Surat, Rajkot and Ahmedabad received a total of 469 phone calls offering tips on drinking sessions. But only 107 raids brought results; 362 came to naught.

During the same period, 223 people, including listed bootleggers, were arrested and illicit liquor and goods used in its manufacture -- including wash (used in country liquor), gur and nausadar (yeast) worth Rs 7.48 lakh were seized.

In the nine months between June 1997 and February 1998, the officials registered 13,224 cases, including 1,132 against bootleggers. They arrested 17,436 people, including 1,510 bootleggers. Thus, on average, 1,469 cases were registered every month and 1,937 persons were arrested.

In the same time, officials seized 51.79 lakh litres of countrymade liquor, and 1.20 crore litres of foreign liquor. The total seizure of illicit brew, manufacturing goods and vehicles is valued at more than Rs 5.69 crore.B J Gadhvi, the new commissioner of the department, is quite optimistic about the drive. He said, ``Just enforcement won't do in fighting social problems. We will try to change the hearts and mind of the people by educating them. This is what the government is aiming at.''