The Hindu : Mukhi sees only vices in liquor policy

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jun 18, 2002

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Mukhi sees only vices in liquor policy

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI JUNE 17. The Delhi Government's recently announced Excise Policy has drawn flak from the Delhi Leader of Opposition, Jagdish Mukhi, who accused the Government of ignoring the Directive Principles of State Policy, court orders, and a range of important ethical issues while framing the policy.

In a statement released here today, Prof. Mukhi criticised the policy on several grounds. Citing Article 47 of the Constitution which urges States to bring down the consumption of liquor, he said the new policy goes against this objective as it blatantly promotes the sale of alcohol by easing government control and making it more accessible to people.

Prof. Mukhi said the policy does not do justice to Delhiites who would now be more exposed to substances injurious to their health. The Government, he added, had framed such a policy with an intention to earn more revenue, albeit at the cost of public health.

Further, the Leader of Opposition criticised the Delhi Government of pursuing an unserious approach towards controlling liquor consumption. He said the hypocrisy was best reflected in the fact that both the Excise Department and the Prohibition Director are under the Finance Secretary.

According to Prof. Mukhi, the policy also was pregnant with legal loopholes. For instance, the decision of the Government to issue liquor licenses to farmhouses and banquet halls, he alleged, was in contravention to a High Court order that disallows farmhouses from being used for commercial activities.

Prof. Mukhi rubbished the Government argument that the easier availability of better quality liquor would bring down the consumption of spurious liquor. According to him, instances of death by consumption of spurious liquor were far higher a decade or so ago when Delhi's liquor outlets were also controlled by private players.

This apart, Prof. Mukhi raised a range of doubts over whether the sale of liquor via telephone, fax and e-mail would not allow persons below the age of 18 to purchase alcohol without any check. These could in the long run pose many uncomfortable social questions, he added.

Emphasising that the Bharatiya Janata Party would strongly oppose the policy, Prof. Mukhi went on to adopt a moral stand stating that from Dayanand Saraswati to Mahatma Gandhi, all seers had spoken against this social evil to which the Government was now turned a blind eye.

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