Suggesting that the Kerala Government’s decision to implement total liquor ban need not succeed merely through closure of booze outlets, the State witnessed a stunning increase in the sale of liquor after 418 of the total 730 bars in Kerala were closed down on April 1 in the name of lack of facilities.
As per the figures the Government itself produced before the High Court, India-Made Foreign liquor (IMFl – hard liquor) worth Rs3,237 crore was sold through the retail liquor outlets alone since April 1 showing an increase by Rs516.31 crore from the figure for the sales during the same period last year, which had stood at Rs2,720.69 crore.
This sales turnover relates only to the 338 retail liquor outlets run by the Kerala State Beverages Corporation, the State-owned monopoly liquor distributor. The figure would be much higher when the turnover of sales through the 46 outlets operated by the ConsumerFed, another State-owned agency.
A huge increase could also be seen in the sale of IMFl through the 312 bars which were in operation after the closure of the 418 bars.
liquor sale through the 312 bars since April 1 to August 31 was worth Rs 401.85 crore while the figure for the corresponding period last year was Rs221.50 crore. The sale of beer went up from Rs47.40 crore to Rs87.75 crore.
These statistics disprove the Government’s claim and that of the ruling Congress party that liquor sales had gone down since the closure of the 418 bars in the name of lack of required facilities. Sales of liquor on the two main days of the recent Onam festival (September 6 and 7) had increased by 29 percent in comparison to the same days of the festival season of 2013.
The new sales figures also suggest that it will be difficult for the Government to achieve its goal of totally eradicating the ‘liquor menace’ through the closure of bars and retail outlets.
“After all, there may be some substance in the theory that banning liquor alone is not going to help us achieve the goal. There should be an awareness drive also,” admitted a senior Congress leader.
As per the decision of the Congress-led UDF Government for liquor ban, announced on August 22, the 418 bars already closed were not to be reopened. Of the remaining 312 bars, 292 were to be closed down by September 12 as per a Government order. The remaining 20 bars were in the five-star category which would not be closed.
The Government also announced that ten percent of all the retail outlets in the State would be closed every year leading to “total” liquor ban in ten years. As per the programme, all bars in the State were to be closed by September 12. Ten percent of the total retail liquor outlets are to be closed every year leading to total liquor ban by October 2, 2023.
Meanwhile, State Excise Minister K Babu said in Kochi that Friday’s Supreme Court order allowing the bar owners to operate their bars till the final verdict of the High Court came in the case pertaining to the Government order for the bars’ closure would not affect the Government’s schedule for the anti-liquor programme.