Bhubaneswar, July 20: These days it seems getting high comes easy in the twin cities of Cuttack and Bhubaneswar. As the spirit of Bacchus seizes young and old alike, the capital city alone boasts of at least 113 liquor outlets.
The younger generation has shed inhibitions sooner than expected. Neither the youngsters nor liquor vendors are bothered about the minimum drinking age of 21.
“If we start verifying the age of our customers, our business will stop. However, the customers need to produce identity cards to prove their drinking age,” said a vendor in VSS Nagar.
The students do not care. “When the government allows us to vote at the age of 18, why stop us from drinking at that age. Such restrictions must go,” said Devikalyan Mohapatra, a student from Vani Vihar.
According to the record, Bhubaneswar has 49 off-shops selling Indian Manufactured Foreign Liquor (IMFL) and eight beer parlours, apart from 46 hotels and restaurants and a club that cater to people interested in foreign liquor. The capital city also has four country liquor shops.
Excise commissioner Sudarshan Nayak admitted that the sale of foreign liquor (IMFL) and beer in the twin cities has gone up. On an average, Bhubaneswar sells 32 lakh LPL (London Per Litre) of IMFL and 40 lakh litres of beer.
Bhubaneswar excise superintendent L.K.Behera said: “Every month, around 2.6 lakh LPL, 3.4 lakh LPL of beer and 1.27 lakh of country spirit are sold in the city.”
Similarly, in Cuttack the consumption of IMFL per month stands at 99,558 LPL, 3,36,160 litres of beer and 26,136 litres of country spirit.
Sources in the excise commissioner’s office said that per capita consumption of liquor in the state stands at 3.75 litre, but it would actually be much more, close to 15 litre per person. Nonetheless, it was far behind states such as, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Punjab.
“Working out exact figures is difficult as generally we divide the total sales by the total population which could be erroneous as population also includes non drinkers,” said an official. Attributing the hike in liquor sale to a variety of factors, Nayak said his department was trying its best to ensure that people got quality stuff and hooch was kept at bay.
Population growth and changing lifestyles are among the prime factors contributing to the high sale of alcohol. Nayak said mushrooming growth of technical institutions, where the bulk of students were drawn from outside Orissa, had led to an increase in the sale of liquor, especially beer.
Khurda district tops as far as lifting of IMFL and beer is concerned. The sales have also spiralled in Cuttack.
Professor DN Jena of Utkal University’s sociology department said: “The race to ape modern culture is one of the factors pushing the sales. This is coupled with the huge inflow of money into the twin cities. The youths, particularly software professionals, students pursuing technical courses and young professionals, have taken to drinking. Weekend cocktail parties have become the norm. Girls, too, are partying hard.”
Prof. Nabanita Rath, who also teaches sociology, echoed the same views. She said: “The rise of corporate culture in Bhubaneswar due to the arrival of software companies and cash in the hands of youngsters has resulted in an increase in liquor sales.”
Social activists agree with this argument saying that easy flow of money is a major factor behind the rising sale of liquor. “Not everyone opts for IMFL. Many habitual drinkers go for country-made liquor including mahua-based spirit,” said a social activist.
While country spirit is available in 10 districts of Orissa under central revenue division, mahuli (country liquor made of mahua flower) is sold in rest of the 20 districts of the state. But officials admit that over the years, consumption of per capita liquor has increased.
The state’s excise revenue has leapfrogged from Rs 848.96 crore in 2009-10 to Rs 1094 crore in 2010-11. It is likely to further increase in the financial year 2011-12. “If we get adequate staff to stop the sale of spurious liquor, the revenue can go further up,” said an excise official.
In terms of sales, beer is much ahead of IMFL. In 2009-10, the sale of IMFL in the state was 2.61 crore LPL while 6.33 crore litres of beer was sold during that period in the state.
The sales figures went up next year when 3.44 crore LPL of IMFL and 7.51 crore litres of beer was sold in the state.
Explaining the high sale of beer, 42-year-old businessman, Pratap Mohanty said: “Orissa is still a traditional society. Since beer is not considered hard liquor and is comparatively cheap, it has become the tipple of choice for many people.”
