Arrack Ban - Government Feasting on Account of Poor Peasants?

Mangalore, May 28: To avoid the hazards of spurious liquor, the district administration has advised  people to consume  liquor only from licensed  bars.

District Commissioner (DC) M Maheshwar Rao and Excise Department commissioner N M Hussain has brought out a handbill cautioning the public not to drink liquor that is sold or supplied illegally. Those who want to consume  liquor should purchase it from the licensed bars or wine stores,  the handbill suggested.
It may be recalled that over  200 people lost their lives in the state recently owing to the consumption of spurious liquor. Besides, arrack sale has also been banned in the state.

Therefore, the district administration has come forward to create awareness among the alcohol consumers. But some negative comments suggest that the awareness programme  of the district administration will promote and increase liquor sale in bars and wine shops.

The excise department in the district has registered 544 cases after the ban since 1st July 2007 after arrack was banned . A total of 462 persons have been arrested  and over 73 illegal joints  producing  spurious liquor have been detected and destroyed.

Nearly 200 people lost their lives owing to the consumption of spurious liquor. Most of them were coolie workers and this is the biggest ever tragedy to have struck the state after enforcing a ban on arrack in the state.

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The government should have foreseen the tragedy coming, taking into account the reluctance shown by the state government in strengthening the excise department towards curbing the bane of illicit liquor after enforcing a ban of arrack. Actually the state government has lost nothing except these poor lives, after the ban of arrack in the state.

When the arrack was banned on July 1, 2007, the then state government led by BJP-JD (S) had planned a strategy to recoup the deficit income through liquor sale and it has succeeded. Figures say that state government has earned more income than in the past, owing to the ban of arrack. The state government had jacked the target up for the excise department to increase its revenue by 200% through wine shops, immediately after the ban of arrack. This has worked in the state and the government has been successful in raising more revenue as compared to the era before the arrack ban. Because, the revenue earned by the government by selling a litre of arrack is only Rs 2, while money minted by wine shops is Rs 40 per litre of Indian Made Liquor (IML). Recently, the state government hiked the excise duty on IML. Therefore, it has gained more than it lost after banning arrack. What about the poor families which lost their breadwinners owing to the consumption spurious liquor?

Most of the people who died in Bangalore, Kolar, Hosakote and Anekal, consumed spurious liquor which was stored for distribution during the elections. Therefore, it is quite apparent that the politicians are directly responsible for the death of these poor lives. At the same time, the irresponsibility shown by the excise department cannot be overlooked.

When arrack was banned in the state, the excise department carried out series of operations to tackle the production of spurious liquor for a few days. Later the excise department remained lethargic for months. The excise officials became active only after scores of poor peasants lost their lives owing to consumption of hooch. They seized illicit liquor worth Rs 1 crore within a day. The raid was conducted in almost all the districts of the state. It implies that the production of illicit liquor has spread in all the districts. Moreover, it also indicates that the excise department officials can control illicit liquor, if they want so.

The excise officials also conducted raids in Dakshina Kannada. The places like Uliya Pavoor, Emmekudru, and Ontikudru Padpu near Adamkudru which are known for production of illicit liquor since decades. Whenever the police conduct raid into these places, they no doubt seize some litres of brew and liquor. But they have not been able to stop the illicit liquor production in these places. Moreover, police never arrest anybody here in any of the raids. The geographical advantages help the illicit liquor producers to escape easily when the police conduct raids. It needs to be noted that the liquor is mostly produced in the government property. Therefore, the police always come back with liquor and brew and not the culprits.

Earlier, arrack sellers were helping the excise department in curbing the illicit liquor by providing information and helping the department by providing boats to conduct raid to these places. The arrack sellers were losing huge amount of money owing to illicit liquor production. But no such question arises now, owing to the ban on arrack. Therefore, the excise officials should carry out operations by utilizing their own available sources.

It is a fact, that the excise department lacks proper infrastructure to curb the hooch production in the state. They have not been paid salary for two months. They also lack sophisticated vehicles to reach the spot. Moreover, they have to purchase uniforms out of their own pockets. Their responsibility has been increased after the ban on arrack. Adequate staff needed to nip the menace has not been appointed in the excise department. Even there are allegations that the excise department officials are closely associated with the illicit liquor producers.

An excise officer tastes arrack from bottle during a raid on illicit distillery

Sources say that, they lost huge amount of ‘Haftha’ after the ban on arrack. To compensate this ‘Haftha,’ they have tied up with these illicit liquor producers, sources claim. Therefore, one cannot expect anything good from excise officers. If the excise officials are honestly concerned about the spurious liquor, they have to curtail the selling points, which is not been done yet.

The death of hundreds of innocent persons has provided a fertile stage for the politicians to indulge in blame game. Congress has blamed BJP for this tragedy. Ban on arrack has resulted in this peril, Congress says. Meanwhile, BJP has maintained silence on this issue. The hooch issue was totally sidelined owing to the election results declared in the state. Now BJP is all set to form the government in the state and the ball is in its ground. It is interesting to know whether BJP bans liquor completely and takes initiative to curb production and sale of spurious liquor in the state or sleeps over the issue completely.

But the question remains unanswered, ‘is it possible to bring back the lives lost owing to the corrupt excise officials and the decision taken by the government without giving a thorough thought about future repercussions?

Related Story:

Arrack Ban: What Really did the State Government Achieve?