How will Kerala celebrate now?

India has just won a match – an overseas ODI, not an overseas test you optimist! You have just received a job or a promotion. Your child has just got admission in a school / college. You have just won a state lottery. Sachin Tendulkar has just visited your state and you were in attendance for his felicitation. Your outstretched arm barely scraped past Sachin’s shoulders while he was leaving. It’s a festival / Sunday / any personal occasion like Birthday, Anniversary etc. Your blood test has proved everything’s right in your body. Your liver’s fine.

In all the above mentioned occasions, don’t you feel the urge to celebrate? If yes, then how? Not sure if most of us will buy a cake / have a quiet dinner with the family. It must be a lot of buzz and booze! Speaking of booze, wouldn’t you like to have a dip in the alcohol pool? Well yes, of course.

Not if you are in Kerala. Most Keralites residing in Kerala will be devoid of such “luxury” from September 12th. That’s because their government has decided to ban over 700 liquor bars in Kerala in a phase-wise approach. Around 418 bars are already closed since 1st April 2014. 213 bars currently functioning will be closed on 31st March 2015. From 1st April 2015 only 5 star hotels, approx. 23 in the state, will legally sell liquor.

Why such a ban? – Statistics don’t lie. Kerala is the one of the leading consumer of liquor in India. So much so that 1/6th of the total liquor consumption comes from Kerala. To put things in perspective, India’s per capita consumption of liquor stands at 4 liters whereas Kerala is twice that number at 8.3. So, excessive alcoholism is a major issue in Kerala, at least most of the female population and religious groups will testify. Some analysts have also linked alcohol consumption to domestic and social violence. While the link appears logical, there’s a separate school of thought that believes a drunk drowns his problems / frustrations using alcohol thereby reducing the chance of domestic / social violence. Kerala is not the first state to implement such a step – Gujarat, Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland have all tried it. 

Will a ban be successful? – Let’s get one thing out of the way – if the intention is to have a healthier and a safe Kerala, then it is worth applauding. While the jury is out and there is no clear prediction if the ban will be successful, I personally feel it’s a step back for the Kerala government – economic damage notwithstanding. I can understand the political pressure imposed from the religious allies of the government – perils of a coalition government. But the solution will not do much good. Instead, it will force the regular drinkers to “procure” their spirit from neighboring states. Illegal liquor business will flourish, which is more harmful to government and individuals. Just to quote a metaphor, if murders have increased dramatically in a region, you don’t ban knives / ropes / other common weapons right? You devise a mechanism to have a stringent law to fight the culprits. Same applies here too. If alcohol is leading to an increase in crimes, you introduce and implement stringent laws to fight the crime. Generating awareness is also a solution – albeit long term. Banning alcohol, even in a phased manner, serves no purpose.

Alcohol is not the problem here. Excessive alcohol and its effect on individuals and society are. We need to fight the problem from its root instead of barely attacking the leaves.

PS: I am a teetotaler and this issue doesn’t matter to me at a personal level. But Kerala is my hometown and I am afraid this ban will be counter-productive towards Kerala’s cause.