Gujarat decides to go easy on prohibition

By Manas Dasgupta

GANDHINAGAR, MARCH 24. The land of the Mahatma will, at last, see a phased relaxation in the prohibition policy. The BJP Government in Gujarat today announced the initiation of steps in this direction.

A dilution of the prohibition policy, which previous Governments in the State had only been vowing to implement with stricter resolve, was announced in the Assembly by the Prohibition Minister, Mr. Fakirbhai Vaghela, while replying to a debate on the budgetary demands of his department.

As a first step, the Government has decided to provide instant permits at airports and railway stations to all foreigners entering Gujarat. The Tourism Department has been empowered to issue such permits without going into the fixed quota of hard liquor required for the duration of their stay in the State.

According to a spokesperson of the State Tourism Development Corporation, it would not be difficult to launch the facility at the Ahmedabad airport immediately since it already had the necessary infrastructure to issue such permits. However, providing such facilities at railway stations and other airports would take some time.

The Government is also planning to enter into arrangements with other States and Indian embassies abroad to issue liquor permits to foreign tourists on demand at the source, so that they could be spared the hassles of seeking a permit after entering Gujarat.

In the second stage, the Government has planned to provide permits to all non-resident Indians visiting Gujarat; in the third stage, the relaxation is expected to be granted to non- Gujaratis residing in the State, or at least to visiting non- Gujarati tourists.

The strict implementation of the prohibition policy, besides causing revenue loss, was also believed to be coming in the way of industrial investments and tourism development. The Tourism and Industries Department, headed by the Number Two in the Keshubhai Patel Cabinet, Mr. Suresh Mehta, had since long been advocating liberalisation in the prohibition policy to attract foreign tourists as well as foreign investments.

The prohibition policy had been cited as a major drawback in attracting foreign capital, despite several other advantages offered by the State, including a steady power supply, peaceful law and order, no labour unrest, and other infrastructural facilities, such as good roads, ports, rail and air links.

Some of the major national and international chains of hotels had in the past refused to open branches in the State due to the prohibition policy though the beaches here, particularly in the Saurashtra region, had been hailed as among the best in the country. These groups had been demanding relaxation in the policy at least along the beaches.

Revenue-wise, the State is estimated to have been losing at least Rs. 900 crores annually. Several Finance Commissions and the Central Government had turned down the State's demand for compensation against the loss for the implementation of a policy provided in the Directive Principles of the country's Constitution.

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Section  : Regional
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