Senior Congress MLA B.R. Patil’s opposition to the State government’s controversial proposal to grant licenses to set up liquor shops in rural areas and the remark that “the government should not run with poor peoples’ money” is likely to provide a spark for renewal of an anti-liquor agitation.
Mr. Patil has questioned the government’s proposal on granting licenses for setting up liquor shops in gram panchayat (GP) limits with more than 3,000 population across the State.
Mr. Patil, who has been leading the campaign to ban liquor by introducing stringent laws to ensure de-addiction, has said there was a need to amend the excise laws in the State. “It is not correct to run the government with the money of the poor people,” he said.
On lines of Bihar govt.
Speaking to The Hindu, Mr. Patil said the government led by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah should introduce a law based on the legislature measure adopted by the Bihar government led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. The Bihar government has imposed prohibition since April 2016.
Mr. Patil, who was one of the legislators questioning the functioning of the Ministers in the Congress government and non-release of funds for development works a couple of months ago, said many legislators have opposed the sale of liquor in stores in villages. The government drive to mobilise ₹36,000 crore revenue from the Excise Department would ruin the living conditions of families in rural areas, he claimed.
Mr. Patil, who was first elected to the Assembly in 1983 from Aland in Kalaburagi, said that an increasing number of youth are succumbing to addiction following widespread availability of liquor. Though prohibition was not 100% successful in states that imposed a ban, the evaluation studies on prohibition in Bihar have mentioned reduced domestic violence, road accidents, hospital admission, and violence, he stressed.
Govt. says ban won’t help
Only a few states such as Gujarat, Bihar, Nagaland and Mizoram have imposed prohibition. The Karnataka government has claimed that the prohibition failed in states largely owing to increased smuggling, manufacture of spurious liquor, an increase in other forms of substance abuse and loss of revenue to the State. Gujarat and Bihar had witnessed sporadic incidents of hooch tragedies.
According to the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) for 2019-2021, 23.1% of men consume alcohol in Karnataka which is higher than the national average of 22%.
Many women’s groups have been opposing the government’s policy on liquor. Back in January 2019, more than 2,000 women undertook a padayatra from Chitradurga to Bengaluru demanding a complete ban on sale of liquor.
