http://beta.thehindu.com/news/states/other-states/article77219.ece
Chandigarh scores over others in liquor intake
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Special Correspondent
Contrary to popular belief, a comparative analysis by a non-government
organisation here has revealed that Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and the
Union Territory of Chandigarh beat Punjab in per capita consumption of
alcohol during the year just gone by. According to the NGO, the average
consumption across the region was 12.44 litres as compared to the
national average of 0.82 litre.According to data
released by People for Transparency as part of its “Stop under-age
drinking” campaign, per capita consumption of alcohol in Punjab,
Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi and Chandigarh during 2008-09 worked
out to a heady 16.59 bottles. Information supplied by the respective
Excise and Taxation departments of the different administrations
indicated that nearly 4.5 crore adults, including women, consumed about
74.46 crore bottles of liquor of different brands during the year.In
Chandigarh alone, the per capita consumption came to a staggering
135.82 bottles even as smuggling and visitors were ignored. The city
recorded sales of 65,736,000 bottles of alcohol during 2008-09,
indicating a daily consumption of more than a quarter bottle for each
adult.Per capita consumption of alcohol in Haryana
was 21.45 bottles despite a negative growth in sales, 14.72 bottles in
Delhi, 12.80 bottles in Himachal Pradesh and 11.45 bottles in Punjab.According
to Kamal Anand of the NGO, India being the third largest market for
alcoholic beverages has emerged as a favourite playing field for many
multinational liquor companies. Clubbed with intense marketing, policy
influence and intervention by the large players in the liquor trade,
consumption of alcohol in all forms has gone up manifold, he rued.Public
health crusader Hemant Goswami, who worked to get Chandigarh its “first
smoke-free city” status, said, “It is not a joke that Chandigarh has a
sale of over 1.8 lakh bottles of alcohol every day. The liberalised
policy on alcohol sale by the bureaucrats of Chandigarh is responsible
for it. Even toy shops in Chandigarh now sell alcohol.”Both
Mr. Anand and Mr. Goswami note that the Excise Act is specific about
the minimum age for drinking being 25. Despite that, there were less
than 20 cases registered in all the five States in the past ten years
for under-age drinking even though one could see youngsters consuming
liquor in bars and discos.“Despite such a specific
direction in the Constitution, States ill-managed by politicians and
bureaucrats take the excuse of finances and taxes generated by the
liquor trade as a pretext to promote consumption of alcohol,” Mr. Anand
complained.“Not only the World Health Organisation
but even governments all over the world are streamlining policies
related to alcohol so that public health and public interest can
supersede commercial interest, but India still seems to be working in
the other direction,” he said.
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Keywords: NGO, liquor consumption, Chandigarh, People for
Transparency, under-age drinking
South Asian Observer
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Chandigarh adult drinks 11
bottles a month
( Jan 04 2010 )
Liquor sales show that Chandigarh adults drink 11
bottles of alcohol per month on an average, quite apart from beer and
wine. Or annually, they drink nearly 136 bottles of alcohol.
Records show that nearly 200,000 bottles of liquor are sold in
Chandigarh every day. Liquor trade insiders say the "high" figure is
owing to liquor being cheaper in Chandigarh compared to other places.
Chandigarh saw 65,736,000 bottles of alcohol being sold in 2008-09 to a
voting population (above 18 years of age) of 483,982 in its electoral
rolls.
This has been revealed in information obtained by social activist Kamal
Anand under the Right to Information (RTI) from Chandigarh's excise and
taxation department for non-governmental organisation (NGO) People for
Transparency for its campaign Stop Underage Drinking.
The information regarding liquor sales during 2008-09 does not include
beer and wine. The NGO obtained information on alcohol sales from
Chandigarh, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Delhi.
The data showed higher per capita alcohol consumption in Haryana and Himachal
Pradesh than in Punjab.
During 2008-09, Haryana's 1.2 crore adult population drank 26.52 crore
bottles of alcohol. During this period, 16.28 crore bottles were
consumed in Delhi.
In all, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Himachal and Delhi consumed 74.46
crore bottles of alcohol during 2008-09, Anand said here Sunday.
"This is certainly very good news for the alcohol industry but not for the
health authorities," he added.
While the World Health Organisation (WHO) global status report on
alcohol (2004) recorded alcohol per capita consumption among 15-plus
age group at 0.82 litre of pure alcohol, the average of these states
and Chandigarh came to 12.44 litres of alcohol annually.
Public health activist Hemant Goswami, who has worked hard to make
Chandigarh the first smoke-free city, said: "It is no joke that
Chandigarh has a sale of nearly two lakh bottles of liquor every day.
The liberalised policy on alcohol sale by the bureaucrats of Chandigarh
is responsible for it."
Anand complained: "The Excise Act is specific about the minimum age of
drinking being 25. Despite that, there are less than 20 cases
registered in these states and Chandigarh in the last 10 years for
underage drinking, even though one can see children and youngsters in
every bar, restaurant and disco drinking alcohol.
"Despite specific directions in the Constitution, states ill-managed by
politicians and bureaucrats take the excuse of finances and taxes
generated by the alcohol industry as a reason to promote alcohol."
Goswami said: "The government is spending crores of rupees on public
health and de-addiction centres on one hand and on the other, it is
promoting the use of alcohol. It is indeed shameful."
