Karnataka should set an example to the country by banning liquor sale, activist and convenor of Nasha Mukt Bharat Andolan Medha Patkar has said and urged Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and other leaders of all political parties to include this issue in their election manifestos.
Farmers are committing suicide in the face of the agrarian crisis and lakhs of others are dying owing to chronic alcoholism. Therefore, the State government should treat both the problems as one and the same and find a solution to help achieve a better society for the next generation, Ms. Patkar said.
“The State government gets ₹ 18,000 crore income by allowing liquor sales and it is unfortunate that the government is using such money for developing schools,” she said and added that such utilisation of money should be stopped.
Ms. Patkar also said that it was a bigger challenge for any government, including the Congress government in the State, to take such a hard decision to make society alcohol-free but it is possible with strong political will.
