The lovely tale of Liquor
during Lockdown and before
At every stage, addiction is driven by one of the most powerful, mysterious, and
vital forces of human existence. What drives addiction is longing —
a longing not just of brain, belly, or loins but finally of the heart.
Cornelius Platinga
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The use of alcohol in India for drinking purposes dates back to somewhere between 3000 and 2000 BC. An alcoholic beverage called Sura which was distilled from the rice was popular at that time in India for common men to unwind at the end of a stressful day. . Yet the first mention of Alcohol appears in Rig Veda (1700BC). It mentions intoxicants like soma and prahamana. Although the soma plant might not exist today, it was famous for delivering a euphoric high. It was also recorded in the Samhita, the medical compendium of Sushruta that he who drinks soma will not age and will be impervious to fire, poison, or weapon attack. The sweet juice of Soma was also said to help establish a connection with the gods. Such was the popularity of alcohol. Initially used for medicinal purposes, with time it evolved and became the beverage that brought life to social gatherings, and eventually consuming alcohol has become a habit for many.
With such a rich history of not just humans but also of the gods,
what is a worldwide pandemic to stop anybody from drinking?
. . .
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According to a report released by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in 2018, an average Indian drinks approximately 5.7 liters of alcohol every year. In a population of casual and excessive drinkers, with the shutters of liquor stores down, it must have been extremely difficult for “certain” people to survive lockdown. In the first two phases of lockdown, the desperation had quadrupled prices of alcohol in the Grey Market of India. Also, According to Google Trends, online searches for “how to make alcohol at home” peaked in India during the fourth week of March, which was the same when the lockdown was announced. As a consequence, a few people died drinking home-brewed liquor. People committed suicide due to alcohol withdrawal syndrome. Owing to the worsening situation and to reboot the economy, some states decided to open licensed liquor stores in the third phase of the COVID-19 Pandemic lockdown in India. This decision was the worst best decision the state governments could take. The kilometer-long queues in front of liquor stores were evidence that a pandemic can turn your life upside down yet your relationship with alcohol cannot move an inch.
The love in the hearts of those who are addicted was explicit. We might have seen addiction, we might have witnessed desperation but what happened in the month of May was madness, not just in terms of the way people pounced but also in the way the government earned. According to a report by Hindustan Times, on the first day of the third phase of Lockdown, the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh recorded a sale of over Rs 100 Crore from liquor. On the second day of the reopening of Liquor stores, Karnataka reported sales of 197 crores in a single day which was the largest ever. Eventually, the prices of Liquor were hiked to 100% to discourage people from drinking.
. . .
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There was a special corona fee that was imposed in Delhi by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. A 70% corona fee was imposed in Delhi, yet the sales did not drop. The entire situation was a disaster for the law enforcement officers, social distancing was easily abandoned and a basic code of conduct was happily violated. Despite the chaos created, the states continued to collect revenues. Home delivery of alcohol was allowed in Maharashtra and e-tokens were sold in Delhi.
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Demand for liquor is inelastic which means that
the sale of alcohol is not much responsive to change in prices.
In general, since alcohol policy is a state subject in India, revenue from Liquor is a cash cow for state governments. In 2018 and 2019, four states collectively collected about 20,000 crores in taxes from the sale of liquor. As much as the state earns from the sale of Liquor it is undoubtedly, a threat to the Economy. Consumption of alcohol has dire health consequences. When a person consumes an alcoholic beverage, there is a rise in BAC because of which there is a gradual and progressive loss of driving ability because of an increase in reaction time, overconfidence, degraded muscle coordination, impaired concentration, and decreased auditory and visual acuity. This is known as drunken driving. (V. M. Anantha Eashwar, 2020) Drunken driving is the third biggest cause of road accidents and over speeding in India. Road accidents are not it; alcoholism causes sleep problems, heart, and liver issues. Also, it is not about an individual’s life, it ruins the lives of all people concerned.
Addiction also causes economic loss. In 2000, Vivek Benegal and his team assessed 113 patients admitted to a special de-addiction service for alcohol dependence. They found that
the average individual earned a mean of ₹1,661 but
spent ₹1,938 per month on alcohol, incurring high debt.
They also found that 95% did not work for about 14 days in a month. They concluded that it led to a loss of ₹13,823 per person per year in terms of foregone productivity. A more recent study, Health Impact and Economic Burden of Alcohol Consumption in India, led by Gaurav Jyani, concluded that alcohol-attributable deaths would lead to a loss of 258 million life-years between 2011 and 2050. The study placed the economic burden on the health system at $48.11 billion, and the societal burden (including health costs, productivity loss, and so on) at $1,867 billion. “This amounts to an average loss of 1.45% of the gross domestic product (GDP) per year to the Indian economy,” the study said. (Mint, 2020)
Setho ka Gaon
With each passing day, the ‘curtain of separation’ weighs down on the women of Afghanistan, paving the way for tyranny to thrive.
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The Humanitarian Crisis in Venezuela
On the brink of a humanitarian, socioeconomic and political dissolution, which has now become the “second-largest external displacement crisis in the world” as labelled by the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Venezuela finds itself in a highly critical position in the contemporary world. The condition of the country has even been compared to that of the United States during the Great Depression and of the Soviet Union during its disintegration by some economists. It was also estimated in March 2019 in a United Nations (UN) Report that almost 94% of the population was living in poverty.
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Background and Chávez Administration
Venezuela, as a country has been predominantly very rich in oil reserves, by far still having the largest oil reserves. Much of the curve of its economic development is thus based on oil exports. However, due to the fall in the global oil prices in the 1980s, the economy started dwindling, with the country facing massive debts.
The chief fons et origo of one of the worst crises in history is linked to the Presidency of Hugo Chávez, his policies and actions as well as that of his successor, Nicolás Maduro. After getting elected to an attempt of coup d'état in 1992, Chávez promised social upliftment and well-being of the poor through his policies heavily relying upon the oil revenues and food imports. However, in the 1990s, the country also started facing shortages of food and other necessities, which further was incentivized by the socialist policies under the “Bolivarian Revolution” adopted by the Government.
Overspending and over reliance on imports including devaluation of the currency (ultimately by 32% till Chávez’s Administration) and the policy of price control which involved the setting up of a currency control board in 2003, placing further limits on the amounts of foreign currency that could be purchased by a resident, compounded by other major factors gave way to a downward spiral leading to outstanding debts for the economy. Venezuela, every now and then, started facing shortages due to high inflation and incompetent financial rundowns.
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The Maduro Administration
The situation exacerbated after Nicolás Maduro took charge as the President soon after the death of Hugo Chávez in 2013. The Maduro Administration continued with mostly the existing policies along with the adoption of the policy of withholding United States dollars from importers, which fueled the conditions further. Protests became visible from 2014 owing to violence, inflation and shortages. The economy soon entered into recession.
With the decrease in oil prices in 2015, Venezuela’s oil production declined because of continuous lack of investment and maintenance. Hyperinflation skyrocketed to 800% in 2016 and though there have been debates regarding the inflation rates in 2018 owing to the lack of transparency by the Central Bank of Venezuela with other sources producing different figures, it was assumed to be in thousands and very high. The government retaliated by denying the existence of the crisis and started taking violent measures and strict actions against its opposition.
Venezuelan streets were soon filled with extrajudicial killings by 2017, of which around 7000 had been reported by the UN in 2019. The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) established the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (FFMV) in September 2019. Its first report, which covered cases of extrajudicial executions, forced disappearances, arbitrary detentions, torture, and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment, including sexual and gender-based violence, carried out by Venezuelan state actors since 2014, was released in February 2019.
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On the economic front, The Wall Street Journal claimed in March 2019 that the "primary source of hyperinflation is the central bank printing money to pay gaping public spending deficits," citing the fact that a teacher's salary (according to the minimum wage imposed during that time) could only be used to purchase a dozen eggs and two pounds of cheese. With the abuse of political powers and fraudulent conduction of elections, Maduro managed to rise to power as the President again in 2018. However, as opposition leader and head of the National Assembly, Juan Guaidó declared himself to be interim president according to the Constitution. Guaidó is recognized by the United States, Canada and even some of the Latin American neighbours of Venezuela, though he isn’t able to wield much power.
Consequences & The Present Scenario
The series of events that occurred culminated into the largest refugee crisis in the Americas and the second largest in the world. According to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), about 6.8 million people have already fled the country and others are continuing to leave to “escape violence, insecurity and threats as well as lack of food, medicine and essential services”.
The advent of the Coronavirus pandemic has further aggravated the state of affairs. The country is characterised by corruption, unemployment, shortages of food and medicine, closure of businesses, deterioration of productivity, authoritarian rule, human rights violations and widespread economic mismanagement. According to the 2020-21 National Living Conditions Survey (ENCOVI), 94.5% of the population was classified as living in poverty based on income, with 76.6% of that population living in extreme poverty, the greatest percentage ever observed in the nation and accounting to about 28 million of the country’s residents.
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Actions have been taken by the international community, including imposition of multiple sanctions on the administration. For the betterment of the situation, the steps taken by the international bodies to provide monetary and other aid to the citizens did not initially prove fruitful as the Maduro government was not cooperative and continued to sideline and block any aid. However, gradually, the government has recognized the need of the hour and has allowed its flow along with signing of various other agreements, which is evident from the fact that monthly inflation gobbled down to 50% by the end of December 2021 according to the Central Bank of Venezuela, breaking one of the longest cycles of hyperinflation.
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The government has also started taking reforms and required measures for economic revival, though it is still expected to take a substantial amount of time to get Venezuela back on its feet. However, on the security front, it can only be hoped that the issues be resolved with the government’s active coordination with the United Nations and allied agencies like FFMV and other means.
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Vismay Vairagi
Senior Editor, Editorial Board
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