 "The excise policy of the BJP government, which was based on the premise of promoting the pub and wine culture, is being thoroughly reviewed and reversed,'' the new Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said. He added that the previous BJP government of Vasundhara Raje had planned to allow beer bars in shopping malls and centers which would have had a bad influence on the younger generation. "They had plans to open beer bars in shopping malls which would have given legitimacy and social acceptability to the liquor culture in society,'' he said.
The government will now tweak the excise policy keeping in mind social concerns, the chief minister added. The Gehlot government has already announced a higher VAT on liquor and beer.
The Chief Minister has reportedly acted in a positive response to public demand. Here is another example of the Indian Paradox and the hypocritical Indian society. At a literature festival in Jaipur last week where the author of the original book 'Q &A' on which the Slumdog Millionaire is based, Vikas Swarup was present to defend his work, the world renowned author Vikram Seth was also on the dais. But Seth who was having a glass of wine on stage while speaking created an uproar. Local Hindi newspapers fumed at his "sinful" behaviour and misreported him as being drunk. "He should not drink alcohol in front of an audience at a public function. It's disapproved of here," said a shop-keeper in the near-by market.
In another example closer to home, the Commerce Minister, Kamal Nath while drinking a glass of wine in public last year said jokingly that it was perhaps the last day of his ministership as he was drinking in public. The fact that he is still the minister also reflects the tolerance level of different segments of the same society.
But the statement has caused disappointment in the wine circles. Fumes Ranjit Gupta, 'politicians put on blinkers when they talk about their notions of Indian culture. The CM has forgotten about Khajuraho & Rajasthan miniature paintings. Heritage Hotels in Rajasthan have already lost a lot of their bookings this season because of 26/11.Having Taliban-like liquor policies and discriminating against women will not help tourism or the nation though it may get him some votes.'
Gupta is a reputable wine importer and owns Amfora wines. He had made good progress in Jaipur, Udaipur, Devigarh and many other heritage properties frequented by tourists until the 26/11 tsunami hit.
Agrees Dharti Desai, a bigger importer and distributor of domestic wines and CEO of Finewinesnmore,'I hope the CM is talking of country liquor and hard liquor when he is talking of the reversal. He must differentiate between wine and other alcoholic products. I don't like to comment on beer as the people drinking beer are much younger and perhaps in their formative years, but wine is a lifestyle product. The tourism industry will suffer badly as the tourists, and increasingly the Indians love to have a glass of wine with their meals.'
Although she is confident that the rhetoric will not mean an actual change in the excise policy for the hotels, it would be a regressive step and a set back for the Nashik-produced Chateau d'Ori wines which her company distributors through most of India and she has just got registered for sale, including Retail, in Rajasthan. 'We are generally happy with the excise policy and hope that common sense will eventually prevail,' she added.
'We have been just slapped by the Karnataka Government with Rs.277 ($5.50) a bottle increase in excise duties and I hope the government here will understand that wine is not to get drunk but enjoyed with food and not enforce any threatened reverses in the policy,' is her refrain that is voiced by many other wine marketers and connoisseurs.
Rajasthan, like any other state is empowered by Section 147 of the India Constitution and every time there is a change of power, the new government gets into the act of changing several policies of the earlier government. The current statement by the CM was motivated by a recent ugly incident in a pub in Mangalore, Karnataka where a group of young girls and boys were beaten up by the locals.
Meanwhile, delWine has learnt that the Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has backtracked on his pub culture comments. He says his comments on pub culture and moral policing were quoted out of context. His office has sent a clarification to the effect-editor |