QUE : Critically analyse the effectiveness of India and Gujarat liquor/liquor policies in addressing health risks.

With the development of GIFT City as a global financial and technological hub, the state government has opted to relax the ban on liquor to cater to the needs of the international community. This move to relax the strict laws on liquor prohibition at the GIFT City campus in Gandhinagar has been welcomed by the business community.

•  How is liquor regulated in India?
  

•  Liquor is a state subject as per the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution.
  
•  State legislatures have the right and responsibility to frame laws related to it, including “manufacture, possession, transportation, purchase and sale of intoxicating liquor”.
  
•  Currently, the prohibited area includes five states and union territories with complete prohibition and some more partial prohibitions (Bihar, Gujarat, Lakshadweep, Mizoram and Nagaland).
  
•  Liquor Prohibition: Benefits
  

• Health Benefits: Drinking alcohol has adverse effects on human health. It reduces the functionality and efficiency of vital organs of the body, especially the liver and kidneys.
  
•  Constitutional Responsibility: Article 47 of the Constitution directs the state to take measures to raise the level of nutrition and standard of living and to improve public health.
  
•  Control of sexual violence: Prohibition of alcohol has the potential to bring down the level of violence.
  
•  Reduction in crime: Reduction in alcohol consumption is also desirable to reduce crime in the society as intoxication impairs the ability of a person to distinguish between right and wrong.
•  Economic stress: Male members of the family spend more on alcohol due to their excessive addiction. This in turn reduces the budget to be spent on essential commodities.
  
•  Consumption: Challenge
  

•  Rich underground economy of alcohol: Prohibition creates opportunities for a rich underground economy of alcohol distribution, outside the regulatory framework of the state.
  
•  Increase in crime: This leads to problems ranging from strengthening organised crime groups (or mafias) to distribution of spurious liquor.
  
•  Right to choice: Complete prohibition goes against the right of an individual to choose and weakens the freedom of an individual.
  
•  Economic loss: The Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) industry contributes INR 1 lakh crore in taxes every year. It provides direct and indirect employment to lakhs of workers employed in the industry.
  
•  Liquor ban causes an annual loss of INR 10,000 crore to Gujarat. Apart from this, complete prohibition has a negative impact on the tourism and hospitality sectors.
  
•  Bootlegging: Failure in effective enforcement gives rise to bootlegging (illegal manufacture, transportation and sale of liquor). Liquor mafias emerge who continue to supply illegal liquor (without quality checking) to the people. This defeats the purpose of liquor ban. And also gives rise to organised crime.
  
•  Health impact: Many people lose their lives due to consumption of substandard illicit liquor. News reports suggest that as many as 60 people have died in Bihar since November 2021. e.g. Latha incident

•  Judicial burden: It creates a tremendous burden on the courts and increases the pendency of cases.

•  What are the problems with alcohol policies in India?
  

•  Revenue vs. health priorities: The focus on generating revenue often overshadows health concerns. States like Kerala have backed away from partial bans for financial reasons, citing the conflict between health and revenue.
  
•  Inconsistent state policies: There is a lack of uniformity in policies across states.
  
•  Poor enforcement of rules: Despite the existence of rules, their enforcement is lax. Alcohol companies flout the ban on advertisements, e.g. promoting alcohol consumption at the Cricket World Cup.
  
•  Exclusion from GST: States are reluctant to include alcohol under the GST scheme, indicating a preference to maintain individual control over alcohol policies for revenue reasons.
  
•  Future Suggestions
  

•  National Health-Centric Policy: A national alcohol policy that prioritizes health over revenue is needed.
  
•  Legislative action on advertising: Strong legislative action is needed to enforce a ban on advertising and control surrogate advertising by alcohol companies.
  
•  Balanced approach to revenue and health: The policy should find a middle ground between revenue generation and minimizing health impact, keeping in mind the economic aspects without compromising public health.
  
•  Elaborate Discussion: Society needs an elaborate and critical discussion about the use of alcohol.

• Gandhiji has said, “In alcohol a man forgets himself and as long as his influence remains, he becomes completely incapable of doing anything useful. Those who choose to drink alcohol, ruin themselves and ruin their people.”
  
•  The government should formulate an alcohol policy by combining economic and social benefits.