Even though the Supreme Court's verdict, seconding the High Court's ruling on the government's liquor policy, is welcome, perhaps the SC did not consider the practical aspects of the case. When the court decided that the liquor business destroys the health of the people, it did not perhaps take into account loss of revenue for the government, rehabilitation of workers in the industry and infrastructure needed to implement the liquor policy.
Until the government finds an alternative to compensate loss of income arising from the policy, the economic well being of the state could be endangered. Those who are well acquainted with the industry also feel that the new policy would hamper tourism in the state.
Goa and Haryana have been using their respective liquor policies to play a complementary role to tourism. In Kerala, the industry has been much maligned and the media had even spread misinformation that people are dying here because of liquor consumption. While consuming liquor is not healthy, the majority of liquor consumption in the state is by people from other states. There are about 20 lakh migrant workers in the state and liquor consumed by them is being attributed to Keralites. So it does not make sense to say that Kerala is lying listless, drenched in alcohol. It is also not proper to conclude that bars are open only in a small state such as Kerala.
If the government wants to control the drinking habits of Keralites, this is perhaps the right time to frame policies in that regard. My report to the government suggests measures that could be implemented to control or discourage alcohol consumption. The government however would not have had the time to read the report because it has been engaged in controversies surrounding the old liquor policy. Consequently, considering the report or modifying it was not the priority of the government. The government could read the report, select what is suitable and discard that which is unsuitable to frame a practical liquor policy.
(The author is a single-member commission that was constituted by the government to make preliminary studies for drafting the liquor policy)
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