Prohibition in Kerala - The Way Forward !!

"For every prohibition you create, you also create an underground"- Jello Biafra

In the modern political-economy discourse of India, we have the perennial "Sen-Bhagwati" debate which compares and contrasts the Kerala model of development with the Gujarat model of development. These are construed as entirely disparate models with zilch in common. But in one way at least, the Kerala model is aspiring to follow the Gujarati way of life. This ambition pertains to the controversial and much debated realm of prohibition. This long essay aims to analyse threadbare the multiple debates taking place with respect to prohibition in Kerala in a pan-Indian perspective (A global example also thrown in, for good measure). The moral, political and financial aspects of this issue are discussed in depth.

Prohibition in USA :

Before we delve into Indian concerns, we shall start with an example from world history. Mass production of alcohol that happened in tandem with Industrial Revolution ruffled not just conservative religious feathers but also created ripples in those who saw alcoholism ruining public order and helping form a dysfunctional labour force. An 1886 pamphlet published by the American writer David Locke says that "Evils are to be killed, not regulated. The question today is not whether the individual man shall have the right to poison himself, but whether an organisation shall have the right by means of a poison to demoralise mankind for profit … ”.

Such opinion gained popular currency leading to imposition of prohibition in 1920 in USA. This did not lead to paradise. Rather, it led to nurturing of a powerful underground mafia that indulged in bootlegging and related illegalities. Thus, high ideals gave way to pragmatism leading to repeal of prohibition in 1933. Now, we shall move from Uncle Sam to more familiar terrain.[i]

Legal and Constitutional provisions :

Alcohol prohibition in India stems from the convictions and ideals of one of the greatest Indians this soil has given birth to - Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. His exhortations to his fellow citizens in prayer meetings and periodicals regularly echoed in the Constitutional Assembly debates from 1946 to 1949. The arguments were between a case for societal reform and a case for individual liberty combined with economic prudence. B.H.Khardekar's passionate speech against prohibition was grounded in an argument for liberty : "In a free India, Sir, the development of personality to its fullest extent is our aim and by frustrations, prohibition, inhibitions, suppressions we are going to have a stunted growth in the young men." Jaipal Singh provided a tribal argument when he argued that Prohibition interfered with indigenous practice : "this … is a vicious one. It seeks to interfere with my religious right. Whether you put it in the Constitution or not, I am not prepared to give up my religious privileges".[ii]

Deferring to Gandhian concerns, a typically smart Indian compromise was made by adding a provision on Prohibition and at the same time, rendering it toothless by placing it in the non-justiciable section of the Constitution : Directive principles of state policy. Article 47 of the constitution says that the State shall endeavour to bring about prohibition of intoxicating drinks. Also, alcohol was made a state subject under Schedule 7 of the constitution. Thus, Alcohol laws vary from state to state.

Prohibition in India :

The seeds of prohibition in post-independence India were naturally sown in Gandhi's jenmabhoomi - Gujarat. It actually implemented prohibition in it's previous avatar as Bombay state itself and later followed it when a separate state of Gujarat was carved out in 1960. Laws there are so stringent that fatalities due to homemade liquor can bestow death penalty on the culprits. Nagaland, parts of Manipur and Lakshadweep are other Indian territories where liquor is banned. The efficacy of this policy in Nagaland was underlined in 2013 when the then CM Neiphiu Rio accepted in the floor of the legislative assembly that prohibition was a failure .Mizoram followed prohibition for 17 years before giving up on it recently.

Nitish Kumar rode to power in 2015 in Bihar due to multiple reasons but promise of prohibition certainly was a pull factor with respect to votes of rural women. Bihar government recently made an interesting claim that because of prohibition (which was introduced in the first week of April,2016) ,crime rates had reduced by 27 percent and road accidents had reduced by 33 percent. But critics point out that this stringent measure is at the cost of forgoing 4000 crore rupees as annual revenue and a soon-to-burgeon illicit liquor industry.

An state which has had a love-hate affair with prohibition is Kerala's neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu. Tamil Nadu introduced prohibition as early as 1937 when C.Rajagopalachari, a passionate votary of prohibition, was the premier. An on-off game began with prohibition after Independence. Karunanidhi, the then Chief Minister, repealed prohibition in 1971 on revenue grounds . Later, the government itself took liquor trade from private hands and started more liquor shops to cater to it's welfare schemes ( which are derided as manifestation of freebie politics by economists). This has seen severe popular backlash especially from women and hence, political parties are promising prohibition in their manifestoes for 2016 elections.

Similar withdrawals were seen in the case of Andhra Pradesh and Haryana too. Chandrababu Naidu was the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh who lifted prohibition which was in vogue from 1994 to 1997. The chief minister justified lifting prohibition on the grounds that it led to corruption in the enforcing authorities, especially at the lower levels of police and that it led to illicit trade of liquor. Similarly, the Bansi Lal government in Haryana withdrew prohibition after 19 months realising that the costs of prohibition are exorbitant.

God's own country, tippler's own paradise :

Having dealt with other Indian examples, the essay moves to God's own country and how it tries to grapple with the issue of alcoholism. When the name Kerala is mentioned, lots of images crop up in one's mind : picturesque beaches, lush greenery , monsoon rains, empowered women , vibrant trade unions and Mohanlal. To this, one must add the ubiquitous image of long queues of lungi-clad men in front of a liquor shop on a weekend morning.

A report prepared by Johnson, the director of a Trivandrum based alcohol awareness group points out that annual per capita consumption of Kerala was as high as 8.3 litres in 2008. This figure is higher than even Punjab's which is portrayed in pop culture as a booze capital. The national average was a paltry 5.7 litres.[iii] A 2011 report by ASSOCHAM, a renowned trade body concluded that Kerala contributed to around 16% of national alcohol sales. It must be remembered that these include only legal sales and illicit trade is a different proposition altogether. A 2014 study by community medicine experts reveals that nearly 30 percent of Kerala's population aged above 18 consume liquor, about one-third of this section being heavy drinkers.

Despite strong social movements (including ones lead by the great Narayana Guru) which have propagated anti-alcohol messages, alcoholism in Kerala has become a serious problem in recent times. A serious sub-category which needs to be addressed is the phenomenon of binge drinkers who do not drink alcohol every day but drink a large amount of alcohol in a short time. Economist reports about a bar owner in Thrissur who confesses that a single customer will comfortably drink 6 pegs of alcohol (which amounts to 60 ml shots) in 60 minutes. Kerala has an indigenous heritage in tippling that can be traced even to sacred spaces. Devotees offer hard liquor to local deities in North Kerala (For eg. Muthappan, the deity of Parassinikadavu). [iv]

New liquor policy,2014 :

In 2014, the United Democratic Front government led by Oommen Chandy came up with a new liquor policy as part of it's strategy to tackle the alcohol menace which was eating into the soul of Kerala. The government's orders meant that liquor bars will be restricted to five star hotels. Sunday was declared a dry day .Thus, the government decided not to renew the licenses of 418 bars which had expired in the month of March,2014. Kerala States Beverage Corporation, colloquially referred to as BEVCO by locals , is a public sector undertaking owned by the Government of Kerala and has a monopoly over vending of alcohol across the state -both retail and wholesale. the state's nearly 400 BEVCO shops will be closed down at the rate of 10 percent per year. Thus, the government has decided on a policy of phased prohibition whose effect will be seen in a ten years' time.

In 1996, the country arrack was banned and arrack shops were closed down by the then A.K.Antony government. This led to an outburst in the popularity of Indian Made Foreign Liquor ( abbreviated as IMFL) . The bar hotels dished out an annual amount of Rs.10 lakhs as license fee then which grew into almost 23 lakhs in 2013. By the end of 2014, these nearly 700 licensed bars were shut down .This left bar business open to merely 18 five star hotels across the state. With respect to toddy whose liquor content is lower than that of beer, the policy remains benign allowing toddy trade to continue. There are around 6000 toddy shops in Kerala. Thus, the traditional occupation of palm tapping remains untouched.

Reception to the policy :

The announcement of this policy was welcomed by sections by religious and political denominations in Kerala. The Christian churches of various denominations applauded this policy vocally and so did the Muslim leadership which includes Muslim League, a member of the ruling coalition. Similarly, there has been positive approbation from lower middle class and poor women who have been subjected to domestic violence and financial instability owing largely to their husbands' binge drinking. Though some leaders did have their reservations on whether pragmatic economics has a place for prohibition in it, they could not voice their concerns publicly as the public sentiment was in favour of curbs on alcohol.

Supreme court's approval :

In December 2015, the Supreme Court passed it's judgement on the legality and validity of Kerala's new liquor policy. The supreme court upheld the government's policy by stating that the state government must be given a free rein to ensure that the public consumption of alcohol is curtailed so as to promote public health. The Supreme Court also decreed that exemption provided to five star hotels alone is not a violation of that vital fundamental right of equality guaranteed under Article 14 of the constitution. The court came up with reasons to validate this : That consumption in five star hotels is a mere .08 percent of the overall consumption and also that the prices in such places is prohibitively high which discourages binge drinking. The court also clearly said that even this exemption to five star hotels is given only for the cause of tourism.

Drug abuse :

The fall in alcohol consumption can have other kind of effects also as seen in Kerala. There has been an increase in the use of cannabis and other high-end party drugs like cocaine,LSD,nitrazepam etc and this increase can largely be traced to the younger population alone. Against around 700 drug abuse cases in Kochi in 2015, 250 cases were registered in Kochi in the first few months of 2016. This clearly shows that prohibition does not lead to individual discipline but a thirst for even more sinister ways of intoxication. The high purchasing power of the youth (which is a welcome thing) is ironically contributing to such skewed forms of crimes in the state.

De-addiction :

If the state wants to have an effective prohibition policy, functional and well-equipped de-addiction centres across the state are mandatory. Kerala does not have sufficient number of de-addiction centres yet. For instance, a single de-addiction centre caters to the needs of affected people in West Kochi and Kollam. Without effective de-addiction centres, people deprived of their usual dose of alcohol will resort to looking for illegal or underground trading options or worse, can go for lethal drugs and worsen their health badly.

Impact on tourism sector :

26% of the state revenue flows from Kerala's vibrant tourism industry immortalised in one of the greatest marketing taglines ever - "God's own country". Hoteliers across the state make a strong claim that the new liquor policy will have an adverse effect on the state's tourism prospects. Shashi Tharoor wrote in a column that 50 percent of the conventional bookings in Kerala for the winter of 2014 had been cancelled after the new liquor policy was announced. Though this sounds a bit exaggerated and there could be many other reasons for cancellations, this is an interesting observation nonetheless. [v]

On the other hand, state government officials from the department of tourism claim that there is no reason for fears of this policy affecting tourism at all and there are provisions for applying for an one-day licence is case of special conventions or meetings. The Rs.25000 crore tourism industry in Kerala has been a huge propeller of the state's prospects and there has been a five percent increase in the inflow of tourists in 2015 ,a vindication of state government's claims that tourism will not be affected by paucity of liquor in bars.

Impact on services sector :

Kerala has not transformed itself into a big player in the services and knowledge sector like how Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai in neighbouring states have done. Kerala's rise as a services hub depends largely on how the state welcomes the companies and it's employees. It must be said that the thriving pub culture in Bengaluru is due to the fact that the employees in software and other sunshine industries get to unwind in the evenings after a long day at work. Thus, Kerala's new liquor policy may be a minor yet notable hindrance to Kerala's aspirations in the services sector.

Effect on state finances :

Whenever prohibition is discussed, the revenue angle comes into the picture immediately. Excise duties on liquor are a vital source of revenue for the state government ,contributing almost 22% to the state revenue. The Kerala model is touted as a successful welfare state model with enviable social development indicators in every sector-be it health or education. This has been achieved largely through a series of interventionist government schemes which take care of a citizen's wellbeing from cradle to coffin. 60 percent of the state's own tax revenue is spent in funding the salaries of state employees and teachers alone. The minimum wage for a labourer in Kerala is the highest in India. To pay for these welfare initiatives, a strong revenue net is needed which is largely provided by tourism and excise tax on alcohol. If these two sources of revenue are jeopardised, the welfare model of the state might itself collapse.

Does prohibition work ?

To consider the efficacy of  prohibition ,one must consider the example of Gujarat which is officially "dry". An investigation by Frontline magazine reveals some dark truths which show that letter of the law and the situation on the ground are polar opposites. A resident in Ahmedabad reveals that a drink is a phone call away and as easy to acquire as  a pizza. The wealthy in Gujarat can afford to get IMFL delivered to their doorstep while the poor resort to locally brewed country liquor. The unofficial guesstimate of the sale of IMFL in Gujarat is between Rs.500 crores to Rs.1000 crores. This means that people still keep drinking and only the revenues from it are deprived from the state government. Leading campaigners agree that the prohibition in Gujarat is a failure. So much for being a dry state ![vi]

Conclusion :

In economics ,we come across this dichotomy of "good decision, bad outcomes" and "bad decision, good outcomes". Prohibition has historically been proven to be of the first kind. Alcoholism is a social menace which has led to multiple effects on both private spaces and public sphere. But prohibition cannot be a solution to the menace. The individual wants cannot be curbed by a state diktat and hence, the person will try to tap into illegal sources for satisfying his bibulous needs. Once a parallel illegal network is set up, the state is losing vital revenues. Illegal trade naturally does not have to conform to stringent standards which can lead to fatalities and brutal health outcomes.

Thus, the solution to alcoholism lies in effective awareness campaigns aimed at the individual and not phased prohibition. In ten years' time ,we might have almost complete prohibition in Kerala as envisaged by the current regime. But lessons from history suggest that it won't work. The solutions to alcoholism are many but the most successful solution will be the one which realises that the state cannot provide a solution to every problem.

Note : This essay was written before the change of guard at the helm on 19th May,2016.

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[i]  VARGHESE K.GEORGE. (2014). Prohibition down the ages. [Online]. August 2014. Available from :

http://www.thehindu.com/sunday-anchor/liquor-ban-prohibition-down-the-ages/article6365412.ece?utm_source=InternalRef&utm_medium=relatedNews&utm_campaign=RelatedNews [Accessed : 14th May,2016]

[ii] VARGHESE K.GEORGE. (2014). Prohibition down the ages. [Online]. August 2014. Available from :

http://www.thehindu.com/sunday-anchor/liquor-ban-prohibition-down-the-ages/article6365412.ece?utm_source=InternalRef&utm_medium=relatedNews&utm_campaign=RelatedNews [Accessed : 14th May,2016]

[iii] THE ECONOMIST.(2013). Drinking in Kerala.[Online].March 2013.Available from : http://www.economist.com/blogs/banyan/2013/03/drinking-kerala. [Accessed : 14th May,2016]

[iv] E.P.UNNY(2014).The unhappy hour.[Online].August 2014.Available from : http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/the-unhappy-hour-2/ [Accessed : 14th May,2016]

[v] SHASHI THAROOR.(2014). The Risks of an Alcohol Ban for God's Own Country.[Online].August 2014.Available from : http://www.ndtv.com/opinion/the-risks-of-an-alcohol-ban-for-gods-own-country-by-shashi-tharoor-657176 [Accessed : 14th May,2016]

[vi] FRONTLINE.(2015). Dry only in name.[Online].May 2015.Available from : http://www.frontline.in/cover-story/dry-only-in-name/article7098311.ece. [Accessed: 14th May,2016]