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Chandigarh scores over others in liquor intake

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.

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."