Will UP under Adityanath go the Bihar way and ban liquor?

There have been violent anti-liquor protests led by women across cities and smaller towns in UP

Following the Supreme Court (SC) directive to shut down liquor vending and serving within the 500-metre radius along the highways, coupled with the rising spate of violent anti-liquor protests led by women across cities and smaller towns in Uttar Pradesh (UP) in the last few days, the state could possibly be slowly going the Bihar way in prohibiting liquor.

The incumbent Yogi Adityanath government has already issued stern directives to the district and police authorities to adhere to the SC and high court orders with regards to sale of liquor and take punitive action against liquor shops flouting the rules.

To add another dimension to this development, UP has been witnessing furious street protests in major towns and semi-urban centres by local residents with a fair and active participation by women against liquor retail shops in Lucknow, Kanpur, Meerut, Gonda, Kushinagar, Saharanpur, Auraiyya and others.

Owing to the SC order, the liquor shops have started shifting away from the highways and settling in the midst of populated pockets, posing fresh challenges for local people and also maintenance of public order, safety and health.

Demands are already being made in the state to prohibit sale of liquor in UP on the lines of Bihar, where the Nitish Kumar government had promulgated Excise Act 2016 proclaiming prohibition in April 2016.

The act contains provisions to punish anyone carrying liquor and raid suspected premises. The law declares 11 years jail for offenders, while adult members of a household could be punished if liquor is found in their premises. The ban on liquor had been one of the most populist pre-poll promises by Nitish in the run up to Bihar poll, and even in the face of stiff opposition and criticism, he has stayed put with the ban.

Recently, Nitish had even advised Yogi to prohibit sale of liquor in UP as well, a gesture which has yet not been officially reciprocated or responded to by the state government.

However, considering the fact that UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is also a seer and the presiding head of the powerful and revered Gorakshnath Peeth, which strictly advocates vegetarianism and abstinence from liquor and intoxicants, a blanket ban on liquor could not be completely ruled out. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state of Gujarat is already a dry state.

During 2014-15 and 2015-16 financial years, the state excise revenue receipts stood at Rs 13,482 crore and Rs 14,083 crore respectively.

Interestingly, UP excise revenue has grown over 300 per cent in the last 10 years from Rs 3,982 crore in 2006-07 to Rs 12,741 crore in 2016-17 (excluding March 2017 receipts).

Last year, the state government had lowered the excise duty to curb smuggling of liquor and bootlegging from other states. As a result, there was a drop of almost 25 per cent in the prices of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) in UP. Besides, the prices of country liquor had also dipped.

The decision was taken by the previous Akhilesh Yadav regime since UP had been incurring excise revenue loss to the tune of an estimated 20 percent due to smuggling from neighbouring states, especially Haryana.

The liquor smuggling was rampant in the western region of UP due to price differential, since the liquor retail prices in the state stood amongst highest in India due to steeper license fee, excise duty etc.