| jagoray.blogspot. Kamal Anand January 5 at 9:36am Chandigarh on a high Per capita consumption 136 bottles Pradeep Sharma Tribune News Service Chandigarh, January 3 Blame it on the Chandigarh administration's lopsided excise policy or the people's changing lifestyle, the city is slowing turning into a Bacchus lovers' paradise. The per capita consumption is around 136 bottles, a development which is set to ring alarms bells among a cross-section of society. The figures are all the more alarming in the backdrop of the fact that the Excise Act prescribes 25 as the minimum age for drinking liquor. With over 2 lakh bottles of liquor being sold in the city every day, the problem seems to have assumed alarming proportions, with smuggling not being ruled out. And surprisingly, there are less than 20 cases registered in Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh and Delhi in the past 10 years for underage drinking. "The liberalised policy on alcohol sale by bureaucrats of Chandigarh is responsible for the problem and it is time for the administration to take note of the huge figure," says public health activist Hemant Goswami. In fact, information obtained under an RTI query by the NGO People for Transparency for its campaign 'Stop! Underage Drinking' presents an alarming picture of liquor consumption in the region. Sturdy Haryanvis seems to have overtaken boisterous Punjabis, famous for their Patiala peg, as far alcohol consumption is concerned. During 2008-09, 1.2 crore Haryanvis gulped 26.52 crore bottles of alcohol. Delhi with a population of 1.10 crore adults was far behind Haryana with 16.28 crore bottles of alcohol. Even the hilly picturesque state of Himachal Pradesh managed to beat Punjab with regard to per capita alcohol consumption. According to information provided by excise departments of the five states, the 4.5 crore adults consumed 74.46 crore bottles of alcohol during the year 2008-09. "This is certainly very good news for the alcohol industry, but not for the health authorities," said RTI activist Kamal Anand, who had compiled the information. According to the World Health Organisation's global status report on alcohol 2004, the total recorded per capita alcohol consumption among the age groups above 15 years of age was 0.82 litre of pure alcohol, but it was 12.44 litres of alcohol in the five states. Poor lead the binge: 'Desi' accounts for 70 per cent of liquor sales in state Sanjeev Chopra Tags : congress, accounts, liquor sale Posted: Wednesday, Dec 23, 2009 at 0339 hrs Patiala: Days after all the fresh applicants to the Punjab Congress submitted an extraordinary declaration in their membership forms that none of them consumes alcohol, the state, infamous for alarming levels of drug addiction among youths, is now homing in to the Bacchus as well. And, it is the poor who are consuming it more than the rich in the state. Fresh data from the Punjab Excise and Taxation department reveals a significant rise in the intoxication levels among the Punjab residents, with adults gulping close to 12 bottles of liquor a year. Country liquor, with enormous adulteration and damaging effects to health, makes up a whopping 70 per cent of total liquor sales in Punjab. With the average increase of liquor consumption per adult in the state rising by 16.13 per cent in 2008-09 from the last fiscal, an adult (including women) above the age of 18 is drinking as much as 11.45 bottles of liquor. If adult women, who are generally considered not to drink, are excluded the consumption of alcohol for every adult man in the state comes to a whopping 22.04 bottles during 2008-09. In 2007-08, every adult (including women) consumed 9.86 bottles a year, whereas the adult male population had an intake of 19.02 bottles of liquor a year. These facts were revealed by the data provided by the Punjab Excise and Taxation department on an RTI application filed by a Sangrur resident Kamal Anand. The reply also revealed that the state sold 3.86 crore bottles of beer, with every male adult drinking an average of 4.42 bottles a year. Of the total sale of 19.26 crore bottles of liquor, the sale of country liquor is nearly 70 per cent at 13.48 lakh bottles, indicating that the intake of liquor among the poor in the state is more as the country liquor is generally consumed by them, said Anand. The data excluded the liquor consumed in the state through illicit distilling and smuggled alcohol from neighbouring states, where it costs much less. The state Excise department collected a revenue of Rs 1,810.72 crore in 2008-09 from the sale of liquor, up from Rs 1,570.30 crore collected in 2005-06 and Rs 1,363.67 crore in 2006-07 and Rs 1,860.99 crore in 2007-08. The state has 2,096 liquor vends of Indian-made foreign liquor and 4,818 vends of Punjab medium liquor, besides 263 bars and 29 departmental stores selling liquor. Besides, the liquor is also sold in hotels and restaurants in Punjab, the data of which is not available with the department. http://www.indianex http://www.asianage Poor lead the binge: 'Desi' accounts for 70 per cent of liquor sales in state www.indianexpress. Latest news, breaking news - Poor lead the binge: 'Desi' accounts for 70 per cent of liquor sales in state  www.indianexpress. Latest news, breaking news - Poor lead the binge: 'Desi' accounts for 70 per cent of liquor sales in state |
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