Why Andhra minister called beer a 'health drink' on a news channel
Not many would suspect the state of Andhra Pradesh to top the nation in per capita consumption of liquor. As common-sense dictates, this would have a correlation with the number of road accidents.
According to the National Crime Records Bureau, Andhra Pradesh stands third in the total number of fatal road accidents in the country. Further, the state also has the ignominy of having one of the highest rates of crime against women, in addition to being notorious for the many dowry disputes that have resulted in broken homes.
Given the social costs involved with the high consumption of liquor, any government that is truly sensitive to the needs and aspirations of people would curb the menace and not count the opportunity costs, in terms of revenue lost due to controlling its consumption.
In fact, like in the 1990s, the ruling TDP had made the consumption of liquor an electoral issue during the 2014 elections. And like in the 1990s, soon after coming to power, they pursued policies that are detrimental to the socio-economic wellbeing of common citizens, especially women, who bear the brunt of alcohol-related violence at the hands of men.
The government brazened out any criticism from common people and tacitly encouraged the consumption of alcohol, presumably because it is a cash cow in a cash-strapped state, which is a result of poor fiscal discipline of the ruling party.
This should be considered in the light of the finance minister of the state, Yanamala Ramakrishnudu, admitting earlier this year that the state’s financial situation was alarming. The revenue deficit was reported to have increased to Rs 14,134 crore from a mere Rs 6,641 crore (the budgetary estimate was Rs 4,868 crore).
When the Supreme Court verdict which prohibits liquor shops in a 500 metre radius in the case of national highways, and a 200 metre radius in the case of state highways, was delivered, thousands of liquor shops that line the state’s arterial highways were expected to move into the residential areas.
Members of the civil society supported by the women’s wings of opposition parties of the Left and the Congress are leading protests in what could result in a spurt in alcohol-related violence and domestic disputes.
The government in panic came up with a solution worse than the problem and now plans to de-notify state highways to bypass the Supreme Court verdict. It doesn’t explain how de-notification, which results in a mere change of name and nothing else, would solve the problem. It further keeps mum on what their strategy is to ensure a happy and healthy state, sans violence against women.
As the protests caught the eye of the media, the government, realising that it could snowball into a major controversy which will worsen its already plummeting popularity, decided to assure the public that it would never jeopardise the health of people in a bid to raise its revenues.
Appearing on a popular news channel, the minister for excise and prohibition, KS Jawahar, a former teacher, pled his case that his is a government that considers people’s welfare to be paramount. When grilled by the news anchor about the dissonance between government policies and the moralistic stand it so often takes, the minister led his government into a tragic comedy of errors.
He went onto claim that because the alcohol content in beer is relatively less, it can be considered a “health drink” and hence his government will promote its consumption so as to keep people away from hard liquor.
A bemused anchor broke the stunned silence with a chuckle and asked the minister to justify how beer can be considered a “health drink”. The minister resorted to a rant that can best be described as a word salad, which included, toddy, culture, other states, health…
It’s hard to tell whether the arrogance of the government springs from it being inebriated by power or the “health drinks” it advocates. Whatever it is, the government is high.
And it should get off its high horse and start delivering on its promises, rather than find ways to bypass court judgments. And their conscience.