A state of intoxication

What had been so far kept as a secret is now out in the open – Kerala is one tipsy state. Kerala State Beverages (M&M) Corporation Managing Director P.Vijayanand, IPS in answer to information sought under Right to Information Act by Human Rights Forum general secretary DB Binu revealed that the state has guzzled Rs 11 crore worth of liquor more than the last year.

In the Christmas – New Year time alone, Malayalis drank Rs 6475 lakh worth of liquor, pulling up the tally for the month of December to Rs 702.91 crore. This include 21.72 lakh cases of Indian-made foreign liquor and 8.98 lakh cases of beer. The highest liquor sales were registered in Angamaly in Ernakulam district and Chalakkudy in Thrissur district.

Interestingly, this excludes the sale of toddy and country liquor. If that would be taken into consideration, then the figures will become shocking indeed.

The high consumption of liquor has been an issue in the state for some time now. The data used to be released by the government body on a normal basis. However, since it whipped up media attention, the newly elected UDF government stopped releasing the figures. This led to the RTI being filed which further led to the revelation.

The policy statement of the government clearly states that efforts will be made to control the consumption of liquor. the government had released only Rs 30 lakh for setting up a de-addiction unit at Co-operative Medical College at Kalamassery. The Corporation has no details of the number of patients admitted or how many were de-addicted, the reply to RTI says. However, in the light of these figures, these seem not to be working.