LAST week’s hooch tragedy in Gujarat has claimed 136 lives and 220 are fighting death in hospitals in Ahmadabad.  BJP, the ruling party has the dubious distinction as one its leaders is said to be involved in the supply of the deadly illicit brew. In Mahatma Gandhi’s home state though  that saint politician never once singled it out as his state, there is said to be complete prohibition in his name. It has been a hapless witness to such tragedies. The last was in 1989 when 132 people had died in a matter of days in Vadodara.

In Gujarat, even a casual observer will testify that any brand of Indian, foreign, scotch or homemade brew is available for the asking. You should know the right contact and he would make it available the sought brand at your residence. Five star hotels are allowed to sell liquor to foreigners and on doctor’s prescription one can obtain a permit to buy liquor. This has led to a proliferation of illegal liquor dens. Since low income families cannot afford high priced drinks, they mostly consume home-made brew. Danger of such a tragedy striking down is greater. During the last week alone the police conducted over eight thousand raids and booked 6,713 violators of prohibition law. It closed down 1,200 liquor dens.  The magnitude of illicit trade should be clear. What exactly the police has been doing until now if the scale of illicit brewing and sale is huge. The illegal trade is worth Rs 15,000 crore; according to those know the business. Politicians, police, smugglers and criminals have formed a nexus.  Even now the police are intriguingly silent about the political patronage. That is what prohibition is all about.

The chief minister, Mr. Narendra Modi, the man responsible for one of the worst communal carnages in the history of post independent India has sought Rs 3,000 crore for liquor ban. He asked the government of India to pay this amount per year for "upholding Gandhian values". Apparently, that's the sum the state loses by way of excise duty for its prohibition policy. The consumers pay many times more and still consumer either sub standard liquor or illicit that killers them.  They also live with the guilt that they are doing something illegal. The logical question is: Why not scrap prohibition?  And the stock reply from the chief minister is, "There is no question of that. It's a social cause to which Gujarat is committed and the Centre must pay up for the social cause".  Fixing a price on virtues is not bad political idea.

The Gujarat government has frequently quoted Article 47 of the Constitution to justify prohibition: "The state shall endeavour to bring about Prohibition of the consumption except for medicinal purpose of intoxicating drinks and of drugs which are injurious to health." But it expediently forgets to quote the first part of the Article that reads, "The State shall regard the raising of the level of nutrition and the standard of living of its people and the improvement of public health as among its primary duties..." Obviously the affirmative injunction in the article is about nutrition and health and since liquor and other drugs may have an adverse impact on health that their prohibition is required.

Prohibition has failed all over the world including Britain and the US. It failed because drinking is seen as private activity drinking populations do not believe that drinking in moderation is morally guilty or physically harmful or devastating.  In real life as observed world over, the effect of prohibition is generally damaging and liquor goes underground and illicit and poor quality results in the deaths of many people.

There is another mindset prevalent in India about prohibition.   States have adopted a policy that makes liquor costly and out of reach for ordinary people. It fills the coffers of the state governments but it deprives the drinking populace of quality liquor at affordable prices.  A bottle of an average IMFL that costs the distilleries around Rs 20 to 50 is sold at several times more. Same is true of country made liquor. The distilleries and contractors make huge profits as do the state governments.  Excise duty and auction money total up even to 150 per cent. Levying taxes and through an auction system. States have collected a whooping sum of Rs 39,463 core during 2008-09 as excise duty. Thus comes to 12 per cent of their tax revenue.

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