Bengaluru, Jan 18 (IANS): After outrage against the move to relax the age limit for purchasing and consuming liquor to 18 years in Karnataka, the state government on Wednesday clarified that it is committed to keeping the age limit at 21 years.
Excise Minister K. Gopalaiah said: "The state government was considering the relaxation of age for purchasing and consuming liquor. However, due to opposition, the move has been dropped."
The government and Excise department wanted to enact a law in this regard. It has been decided not to reduce the age limit to consume liquor and the age limit to consume liquor is fixed at 21 years, he said.
The Excise department has issued a notification earlier regarding reduction of age limit from 21 years to 18 years and invited objections on January 9.
The recommendation was made on the report of retired senior bureaucrat V. Yashvant. As per the Karnataka Excise Act, the minimum age limit to consume liquor is 18 years. However, according to Karnataka Excise Licensing Guidelines of 1967, the minimum age is 21 years. The government had taken a decision to end this confusion and fix the age limit to 18 years.
The liquor sellers and bar owners have been demanding that the state government reduce the age limit to 18 years on the lines of Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Puducherry and Sikkim.