The Kerala Government is likely to drastically water down the liquor policy envisaging total liquor ban in ten years which it had announced four months back though Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, its chief architect, is repeatedly asserting that the essence of the policy will remain the same and that the changes will be only “practical” and peripheral.
Though the Government is arguing that the changes have become necessary in the context of complaints from the tourism sector, concerns about job-loss of employees of bars being closed due to the liquor policy, etc, critics allege that the move is to keep the bar owners, who have pushed a senior Minister into a trap with bribery charge, happy.
According to sources in the Congress, the Chief Minister is planning to revoke the order — part of the liquor policy — making all Sundays no-booze days. The Government may also decide to allot licences to run wine-and-beer parlours to the 418 bars which were closed down on March 31 for lack of facilities and whose licences were not renewed as part of the liquor policy.
It is also said that the Government is now unlikely to terminate the licences of the bars run by various clubs. In another move, the Government is contemplating to issue special one-day permits for serving liquor to private individuals, groups or companies for hosting programmes like conferences, sources say.
A war has already erupted in the Congress over the Chief Minister’s move to water down the liquor policy with a section in the party led by its State president VM Sudheeran who had recently held a 35-day all-Kerala campaign tour upholding the total-booze-ban-in-ten-years policy. However, Chandy has managed to win the first round of this war.
Anti-liquor campaigners like the Madya Viruddha Samithi of the Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Conference feel that the liquor policy would become meaningless if the Government brings in the above-mentioned changes to it. A recent meet of the Samithi had expressed grave concerns at the move of the Government.
However, even on Wednesday, Chief Minister Chandy, while replying to a notice for an adjournment motion in the State Assembly on the subject, claimed that there was no move to change the basics of the liquor policy but the changes would be just “practical”. “These changes are being made to make the policy foolproof,” he said.
Stating that ten employees had committed suicide since the closure of 418 bars nine months back, Chandy said, “That has shattered our confidence. These men had committed suicide because of a policy we adopted. We are concerned about it.” He added that the changes were also being considered in the context of adverse court rulings in cases related to the ban on bars.
Moving notice for an adjournment motion seeking discussions on the changes contemplated for the liquor policy, CPI(M) member A Pradeepkumar said, “You (Gover-nment) have become the hostage of bar owners. You are planning to change the policy to appease them,” adding that the decision to change the policy was taken after bribe charge was raised against a Minister.
The Vigilance has named Finance and law Minister KM Mani as first accused in a case relating to the allegation that he had demanded `5 crore as bribe from the State’s bar owners and had taken `1 crore promising to help them to get the licences renewed for the 418 bars closed down on March 31.
Replying to the notice, Excise Minister K Babu, a staunch loyalist of the Chief Minister, said that no decision on changes to the liquor policy had been taken and that the Opposition was seeking discussing on a non-existent decision. Following the replies of Babu and Chandy, the Chair refused leave for motion. The Opposition walked out of the House protesting against this.