From Ram to rum, the BJP philosophy in its very own citadel, Uttar Pradesh, is turning out to be a strange cocktail. Retail beer outlets have mushroomed across the state making it as common as any soft drink. Even as the government says 'cheers' to the booming revenue, it is now considering the 'free' sale of hard liquor. True, this ready availability of the modern-day version of somras will keep the cash registers ringing but there are also fears of large-scale alcoholism.
That's no deterrent to excise minister Surya Pratap Sahi. Says he: "This matter is still under consideration and we'll take a decision soon." Should the green signal be given, liquor makers will make a beeline for the state.
It's six months since the beer floodgate was opened and in Lucknow, the brew's available at the most unusual places. Cases of the golden liquid often share shelfspace with bread, eggs and other items of daily domestic consumption.
And the state can't believe the revenue harvest beer's yielded. Revenue from April to August quadrupled to Rs 40 crore. More is expected when hard liquor is made freely available.
So what does 'free sale' of beer mean? Simply that if you are a shopkeeper wanting to diversify into the sale of the brew, all you have to do is pay a license fee of Rs 1 lakh and you're in business. No wonder then that there was an overwhelming response when the scheme was flagged off. Currently, Lucknow alone has 120 outlets. Most shopkeepers have been smart enough to open their shops next to roadside 'biriyani-kebab' stalls. "The reason is simple: the people find it difficult to resist buying beer every time they come to pick up some yummy kebabs," says Bhola Sharma, a beer vendor.
But there is a downside to all this. Youngsters standing in groups and 'chilling out' with the fizzy drink is now a familiar sight. The new beer outlets have not only become a matter of grave concern to parents and school authorities but to the administration as well. According to the senior superintendent of police B.B. Bakshi, 26 youngsters between 16 and 21 years have been arrested in the last two months for creating "public nuisance" outside beer outlets. Adds Dr Arun Thacore, head of the de-addiction cell at the Nur Manzil Psychiatry Centre: "Since March, there's been a 21 per cent rise in cases of addiction in adolescents. To a great extent, I would attribute this increase to the easy availability of beer in the city." Adds a principal of a top boys' school in the city: "While the state earns, the children are losing out on their academics."
Incidentally, as Thacore points out, most parents seek help when the child has become an alcoholic. "It is the strong beer which is getting these children addicted. So far, going by a conservative estimate, at least 50 cases of addiction has reached Nur Manzil in the last six months." Strong beer is the favourite among the young, the logic being that it is more value for money since it gives a much better kick.
Parental concern has little effect on a government tipsy on liquor revenue. Says state BJP president Kalraj Mishra, "So far, they boozed on the sly, now it's in the open."
But the saffron brigade is confused in its response to the beer question. While its leaders have all along opposed the alcohol consumption as it goes against 'Indian tradition', they find they have to justify the UP decision. Their spin now is that beer is not alcohol. Mishra's in full agreement with this thesis: "I do not consider beer an alcoholic drink. In that case, Coke and Pepsi should also be banned from the open market."
Many in the government feel it's all right for a pauper state like UP to seek new revenue sources. But the way they justify earnings virtually by promoting the drinking habit is to be seen to be believed. Like minister of state for excise Yashwant Singh's observation: "What's wrong? Beer is virtually like madira, the drink of the gods." So will rum and whisky fall in the same category if made available under free sale?
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