12/03/2019 - Social Justice

IAS Parliament 5 years

KEY POINTS

· Despite heavy monitoring and regulation by the government, the illegal manufacture, sale and consumption of liquor continues to cripple the prohibition efforts of the Gujarat government.

· A more recent example is from Bihar, where bootlegging, illegal trade and consumption of alcohol is rampant since the government brought in prohibition in 2016.

· This resulted in steep increase of substance abuse and bootlegging in Bihar Kerala as well during the year following the liquor ban.

· The immediate effect of prohibition is a dent on states’ revenue. State governments need to reflect on their perspective about prohibition of alcohol, especially because it is a significant loss to the interlinked industries, such as tourism, brewing industries.

· The tourist-friendly liquor ban policy prevalent in Gujarat clearly shows that the government takes cognisance of the relationship between the availability of alcoholic beverages and tourist influx.

· In the contemporary setting, the tourism sector has multiple inter-linkages with other industries such as food services, hospitality, retail and real estate.

· Therefore, to prevent spill-over on other sectors, over the years Gujarat has evolved its prohibition policy to allow consumption of alcohol under certain circumstances, with the provision of health permits, tourist permits and group permits for holding business meetings.

· The state also has authorised retail shops that are allowed to sell liquor to permit holders directly. The effect of this favourable approach towards the tourism sector is reflected in the high inflow of tourists, both domestic and international, despite it being a prohibition state.

· So a cautious regulated approach need to be taken by state governments in-line with their nature of state’s economy, since alcohol is a state subject.