Why state governments stand firm against prohibition of liquor?

Despite the fact that most people lose their lives under the influence of liquor and a strong resistance from the women of all categories, most of the state governments never bother to proscribe the liquor business in their respective states. Even if a daring step is ever taken by the leaders with some vision, the same will be revoked in no time. History reveals the fact!

Why is to so?

The state government of erstwhile united Andhra Pradesh had levied sales tax of 190 per cent on low-priced liquor as compared to 130 per cent on premium high-priced liquor brands. The government had collected this tax in addition to the excise duty per proof litres on brands with basic prices fixed between Rs. 300 a case and Rs. 2,500 a case.

An official report discloses the fact that on an average, an individual spends Rs 88.98 in rural Andhra Pradesh as compared to 61.61 per individual in urban areas on intoxicants. So, roughly Rs.70 is spent by an individual, at an average, everyday. Based on this, we can imagine how much money is being spent on intoxicants alone by the individuals.

The statistics reveal the fact that a huge sum of Rs. 268 crore was spent on liquor alone for the New Year celebrations in erstwhile Andhra Pradesh. Conversely, most of the temples including Tirumala devastnam registered a huge revenue loss in 2013 as compared to the year 2012.

If we take into account the revenue generated by the state governments, the revenue generated from liquor is much more than the revenue generated from any other source. So, which state government wants to lose such handsome revenue?

Who will be the loser?

The next question in the series is who will be the loser, if liquor is prohibited. Is it the individual or the government? Most people may come out with the answer – the government. Surely, the government will be the loser as it will lose a great revenue source. However, the individuals will also be the losers. How? Here comes the explanation.

An individual who has been habituated to consume liquor will enjoy the liquor in some or other way. In case of prohibition, the individuals will be willing to spend more money than they have been actually spending to get the liquor. They won’t find a problem to get the liquor to illicit means. The one who cannot opt for good quality of liquor may chose cheap liquor or the hooch.

In general, branded liquor manufacturing takes everything into consideration to produce the liquor viz the proportion of alcohol content etc. But, when it comes to the cheap liquor like Gudumba, it is not manufactured in a scientific way, and may contain the intoxicants in varied proportions, which may ultimately endanger the lives of the consumers. There are many cases reported in the past, which turn the evidence of this fact. In this way, the individuals will also be the losers.

What’s next?

The last but not least question here is what the next course of action is. Communication, which is defined as the activity of conveying information through the exchange of thoughts, messages, or information, as by speech, visuals, signals, writing, or behaviour turns to be the ultimate weapon. The individuals are required to be moulded.

There is no doubt that electronic media turns to be the ultimate weapon to educate the people of all geographic levels (urban, semi-urban and rural). Media should come forward and promote such awareness programs. The audio-visual media, Television media, which is the favourite media of everyone, will definitely establish to be the ultimate weapon.

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