In a move to assure the liquor-free-Kerala-in-a-decade policy, the Congress-led ruling UDF announced that the same was not a political gimmick but a sincere initiative, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Friday declared that the Gandhi Jayanti day, October 2, would be the base date for starting the implementation of the various measures contained in the policy.
“Kerala will attain the goal of total liquor ban by October 2, 2023,” Chandy said in Thiruvananthapuram after a high-level meeting which formally endorsed the UDF liquor policy for the Government without waiting for the Cabinet to do that at its August 27 meeting. “Can you now call our policy a political gimmickIJ” the Chief Minister asked the media.
Chandy said that the Government would close down the 312 bars which were operating now in the State even before the start of the next financial year. This would be done once the procedures were over, he said. The Government also endorsed the UDF recommendation not to reopen the 418 bars which were closed onApril 1 for lack of facilities.
According to the CM, there are no legal impediments to closing down the 312 bars before their licence period (till March 31) is over. He said the Government would have to pay about Rs45 crore back to these bars towards the remainder of their licence fee. With their closure, the only bars functioning in Kerala will be at the 16 five-star hotels in the State.
As many as 39 retail outlets would close on the next Gandhi Jayanti day as per the decision to end the entire retail booze sales in ten years. Of these 39 outlets, 34 belong to the Kerala State Beverages Corporation (Bevco), the State-owned monopoly liquor distributor which has 338 shops, and five belong to the Civil supplies Corporation which is running 46 shops.
The plan is to close down all the retail outlets in ten years by closing ten per cent of the shops every year. The initiative to make all Sundays ‘dry days’ would start on October 5, the first Sunday after Gandhi Jayanti. A five-per cent cess would be imposed on the price of liquor which would go to the fund for employees’ rehabilitation and anti-liquor campaigns, he informed.
When asked how the Government was going to bear the loss of revenue from the liquor sector, Chandy said, “It is true that we are going to lose a lot of money. But that cannot be considered a huge loss when we take into account the losses we are suffering through the health problems, accidents, rising crime rates, etc caused by alcohol consumption.”
At the same time, the communist parties, obviously outsmarted by anti-liquor move of the UDF and the CM, resorted to criticising the policy even when claiming that they too were against booze.
State CPI(M) secretary Pinarayi Vijayan said the Government was trying to overcome its crises through the Prohibition move.
Banning liquor totally cannot be done at one go but it should be done through stages, Pinarayi said. “We welcome the policy of banning liquor totally. But the Government could have done this much earlier,” he said, adding that the liquor policy of the party-led Opposition lDF would be revealed when it came to power.
The UDF liquor policy was just a ploy to conceal the feud in the Congress and the ruling front, Opposition leader in the State Assembly, VS Achuthanandan, said. “What it reveals is Chandy’s urgency to beat (PCC president) VM Sudheeran,” he said while Deputy Opposition leader Kodiyeri Balakrishnan demanded proper rehabilitation of the liquor sector employees.
According to industrialist and SNDP general secretary Vellappally Natesan, questioned the sincerity of the Government and various UDF constituents with regard to the liquor policy. He said wine consumption too should be banned along with hard liquors and there should be steps to end the practice of serving wine in Christian churches.