Thursday, Nov 28, 2002
Thursday, Nov 28, 2002 |
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Kerala
By Our Special Correspondent
The CITU-affiliated organisation of liquor industry workers on Tuesday expressed the hope that, since Mr. Antony had realised his `mistake', he would show the willingness to correct it. In a press release, the union general secretary, K.M. Sudhakaran, noted that the A.P. Udayabhanu Commission, which had studied the issue during K. Karunakaran's stint as Chief Minister, had advised against imposing liquor ban in the State. The commission's view was the only practical thing to do was to educate the people about the evils of liquor use. All unions in the sector, including the INTUC-affiliated one, had met Mr. Antony to plead with him that the arrack ban, which he had announced towards the fag end of his previous tenure as Chief Minister, would do more harm than good. But, he had gone ahead with his decision in the hope that it would help him in the elections, Mr. Sudhakaran said. In another statement, the RSP(B) MLA, Shibu Baby John, said the Chief Minister's remarks showed that he had accepted the reality. The arrack ban had given rise to large-scale trade in spurious liquor. This had become a major health problem in the State. The trade also had given rise to a new mafia in the State, attracting to its fold a large number of youngsters keen on making a fast buck. Mr. John said the Chief Minister should boldly initiate measures to provide good liquor at a reasonable price to those who wanted it. Religious leaders would raise objections, but the Government should ignore such pressures since this was the correct decision to take. In yet another statement, the Kerala Pradesh Ex-servicemen Congress urged the Government to withdraw the `draconian' provisions of the Abkari Act which imposed severe restrictions on the quantity of liquor a person could retain in his possession. The organisation referred to a recent case in which an ex- serviceman was sentenced to one year's imprisonment and a fine of Rs. 1 lakh for holding in his possession four bottles of liquor he had received as his monthly quota from the army canteen.
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