Kerala - Kochi   

Databank on liquor sale sought

KOCHI: The State Information Commission (SIC) has asked the Excise Department to create a databank of liquor consumption and the government revenue from liquor.

In a recent order to the department on the appeal by the Kochi-based Human Rights Defence Forum, which had sought data on the consumption and sale of toddy, the SIC underscored the need for such a databank not just as management tool, but also as a necessary component of liquor policy-making.

It also asked the department to provide data on the sale and consumption of toddy by accessing them from the cooperatives running toddy shops within a month.

The forum had, under the Right to Information Act, asked for a variety of data on the sale and consumption of toddy and other forms of liquor as it contented that such data were necessary to assess the success or failure of the liquor policy.

Some of the data were provided by the department, but some crucial ones were not, saying such data did not exist. Contending that there was a huge mismatch between the sale and consumption of toddy in the State, the forum went on to appeal to the SIC. It contented that in order to meet the high demand for toddy, spurious toddy was being made and marketed.

The Excise Department told the forum that there had been 5,972 licensed toddy shops in the State; 5,10, 226 coconut trees were being used for toddy production, apart from 29,737 palm trees (karimpana). Each coconut tree gave 1.5 litre of toddy daily, while palm trees gave 4.5 litres and choondappana 6.5 litres.

The alcoholic content of toddy was 8.1 per cent v/v. The department denied that toddy was being brought in from other States for consumption in Kerala.

It is pointed out that there is acute shortage of toddy in the State even as toddy workers’ unions have been asking for increasing the number of toddy shops.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Smart school project for 12 schools
District General Hospital goes eco-friendly
Stop for trains sought
Media team ‘attacked’
Protests planned
Eye donation camp
Residents hand over land surrender forms
Sarma: land reforms vital for equitable development
Protest
Shortage of drugs in hospitals
Databank on liquor sale sought
Missing sailors’ kin suspect foul play
Judges should derive joy from work, says Malimath
Brahmapuram plant ready for commissioning
Kochi Today

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu