Kerala govt may water down liquor policy

Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has said his government will soon reformulate its controversial liquor policy.

Chandy told the Kerala Assembly on Wednesday that certain ‘practical changes’ would be made to the liquor policy on the basis of the observations made by the Kerala High Court and the criticisms levelled against the policy. He, however, made it clear that the spirit of the liquor policy would not be altered.

‘No changes required’ Immediately after Chandy’s statement in the Assembly, Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president VM Sudheeran, a strong advocate of prohibition, whose stance had provoked the Chief Minister into announcing the tough liquor policy, said there was no need for making any changes. The liquor policy, whose crux is gradual prohibition over a ten-year period and shutdown of over 700 bars, has been criticised from with the Congress-led United Democratic Front as well as many organisations.

Tourism affected The compulsory closure of the Government-owned Kerala State Beverages Corporation outlets, which supply nearly three-fourths of the liquor demand in the State, has come up for severe criticism.

The ‘Sunday, dry day’ policy is said to have particularly affected tourism. When the policy is redone, it is widely expected that the ‘Sunday dry day’ provision would be removed.

However, Sudheeran’s remarks show that the tussle between him and the Chandy government on the liquor policy will continue. However, the majority of the Congress leaders and MLAs are said to be for diluting the policy.