Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on March 22 announced that the Delhi government has decided to reduce the minimum age for liquor consumption in the city from 25 to 21. While the decision has brought the government under fire from many quarters, it has also won appreciation from others.
The change was part of a slew of amendments in the new excise policy. Once all the new changes are implemented, it is expected to boost the revenue from Excise Department by ₹1,500-₹2,000 crore, he said.
Calling it a good move, Subham Aggarwal, 22, a college student, said in many States the drinking age is 18 years. “It’s unfair to people of Delhi that the minimum age was 25. Also, having a higher age doesn’t actually stop people from drinking,” Mr. Aggarwal said.
No verification at pubs
He said that many of the pubs or clubs hardly checked the age of the customers. “I have been denied alcohol only twice. The rule was only on paper and there were no strict checks happening anyway,” he added.
Mr. Aggarwal said that if the government actually wants to sensitise youth, they should organise more programmes to engage with students in schools and colleges.
Fake Aadhaar cards
Rabiya Ali, 24, a student, said that it is a good decision to reduce the age as people under 25 are anyway drinking and even making “fake” Aadhaar cards to get into clubs in the city. “Even I have one. Also, they don’t check ID cards at all pubs, but even if they check the fake card will work,” Ms. Ali said.
“You can take a photo of your Aadhaar card and edit your date of birth. Most places are fine with a soft copy and it will be fine,” she added.
Radhika Shrivastav, director (Health Promotion) at HRIDAY, an NGO, said that they oppose the decision. “As a civil society organisation working with teenage and young adults, we completely oppose the decision. The younger you are, more likely it is to get addicted,” she said.
“I don’t see any rationale behind reducing the age bar. No one can say consuming alcohol is healthy. By exposing lakhs of individuals at the age of 21 to 25 to drinking, they are promoting drinking in a way,” Ms. Shrivastav said.
“In such COVID-19 times, the focus of any government should be promoting healthy behaviour. There have been messages about not consuming tobacco and alcohol and now they have reduced the drinking age. There are contradictions,” she added.
Parties criticise
The lowering of minimum age drew attacks from the political parties too.
The Delhi Congress said that the Capital was heading to become a “nashe ki rajdhani” (Capital of intoxication) and the BJP said that the “Kejriwal government is putting revenue and money ahead of the lives of the residents”.
The AAP hit back and said that the minimum age is 21 in a few States and even 18 in other States ruled by the BJP. The party even challenged BJP leaders to increase the minimum age to 25 years in BJP-ruled States and added that the AAP will make it 30 years in Delhi, if the BJP makes it 25 years.
A different cause
Prince Singhal, founder Community Against Drunken Driving (CADD), said that the organisation was not against the age being reduced to 21, but the actual problem was different.
“The CADD has always maintained that minimum age across the country should be 21 with a robust mechanism for age checks at points of sale,” Mr. Singhal said.
He said that even when the minimum age was 25, people younger than 18 were drinking, without any checks.
“We had filed a PIL in the Delhi High Court in 2017 seeking mandatory age checks to be introduced at all points of sale. The court had directed the Delhi government to frame a policy within three months. However, still there are no proper checks,” he said.
Parents’ worry
Beena, mother of a 17-year-old and 12-year-old, said that it is “worrying”. “This is going to ruin the lives of a lot of 21-year-olds. It’s true that even students in schools are drinking, but this change will make alcohol accessible to them,” she said.
Ashok Kumar, 50, whose son is in his early 20s said it is not going to change much. “The ones who want to drink will drink. What if the age was still 25 years and they buy booze for underage people?” he said.
Neelam Ahuja and her husband Vijay Ahuja, 60, also did not approve bringing down the drinking age. “The government should not have done this. Now, youth will have a licence to drink and they’ll get hooked to it fast,” Ms. Ahuja said.
