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| Prohibition behind hooch deaths: Mallya |
| BS Reporters / Ahmedabad/Bangalore/Mumbai Jul 12, 2009, 00:35 IST |
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Calls to end 'farce', Gujarat unmoved.
 Liquor baron Vijay Mallya today blamed prohibition for the hooch tragedy in Gujarat in which over 150 people have died so far. “The deaths resulting from the consumption of spurious alcohol is not only tragic but should serve as a wake-up call to our political hypocrites,” said Mallya in a statement.
He went on to add that the state government must rethink its ban on liquor since it was the “farce of prohibition” which led to illegal, unhygienic and unsupervised production of deadly cocktails.
Not taking kindly to Mallya’s comments, Jay Narayan Vyas, the spokesperson for the Gujarat government, said: “Even in states like Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Delhi, where there is no prohibition, tragedies of much greater proportions have befallen over the years.
“Instead of sympathising with Gujarat over the death of the poor, Mallya has made comments that are untimely and uncalled for. Of course, it is his vested interest of seeing his business grow.”
Gujarat, being the birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi, has for long prohibited the consumption of alcohol, except against a licence for patients.
The Bhartiya Janata Party government in the state is led by Narendra Modi who is held in high regard by businessmen for the rapid industrialisation of the state.
It’s not the first time that Mallya has spoken out against prohibition in Gujarat. Earlier, during an event organised by the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, the UB Group chairman had said that the Gujarat government was losing revenue worth Rs 2,300 crore every year due to prohibition.
The state government had recently informed the 13th Finance Commission that the Gujarat government loses excise income worth Rs 3,000 crore (excise on liquor is collected by the state), thanks to prohibition.
Hooch tragedies are not new to Gujarat. Spurious liquor has so far claimed over 400 lives in the state. Commissions appointed in the past to probe hooch tragedies had recommended that prohibition should be either dropped or liberalised. The illicit liquor market in Gujarat is pegged at Rs 15,000 an year.
Mallya found support from other liquor companies. Amrit Kiran Singh, the chairman of International Spirits and Wines Association of India, said, “We can help the government introduce responsible drinking in the state. It is a well-known fact that impositions don’t work. They only add mystic and increase sales.”
Meanwhile, in Gujarat, with the official death toll in the hooch tragedy crossing 150 in the last five days, investigations have been expedited by the police. The spurious liquor, which has been claiming lives since Sunday in various parts of Ahmedabad, is now reported to have come from Mahemdabad in Kheda district.
The Gujarat Congress had alleged that one sitting BJP corporator of the Mahemdabad municipality was behind the hooch tragedy. The government has ordered an inquiry by a retired High Court judge into the incident.
Following continued agitation over the hooch tragedy, Gujarat Assembly suspended ten more Congress MLAs on Friday when the House began in the morning. All the Congress members wore black dresses to protest the tragedy.
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