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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A NOTEBOOK OF LIFE
The term "economics" was popularized by neoclassical economists: Alfred Marshall and Mary Paley Marshall as a concise synonym for "economic science" and a substitute for the earlier "political economy". Since its popularization, the term has been interpreted by various economists differently. Some popular definitions are: ‘Economics is the study of mankind in the ordinary business of life’ given by Alfred Marshall or ‘Economics is the science that studies human behavior as a relationship between ends and scarce means which have alternative uses’ as given by Lionel Robbins.
Adam Smith, the Father of Economics explained that ‘Economics is the science of wealth which implies that experiments and theories generally innovated and tested are related to wealth. Economics is the study of scarcity and its implications for the use of resources, production of goods and services, growth of production and welfare over time, and a great variety of other complex issues of vital concern to society.’
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Economics functions extensively at both micro and macro levels. It’s used mostly by trained professionals in terms of budget, demand-supply analysis, and growth analysis at the macro level. An individual also takes various decisions in life in terms of saving, housing, and other investment opportunities to safeguard their family, this is the functioning of economics at micro level.
Economics in small things can be thought of as a blank notebook. Throughout our life, we try to fill these blank pages with our needs and wants, provided that they are affordable and we have the willingness to buy. The notebook pages define the total resources that we have from birth or the resources that we obtain and earn by being a part of the labor force. The blank pages are filled with education, and an individual decides the subject to specialize in, along with the school and college to enroll in. The next decision comes in choosing the career path. We choose the path along the specialization which helps in our growth as well as in income generation. The decisions up till now involve filling the pages that already exist in the notebook.
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The forthcoming decisions help to add the pages in the notebook. Once the income is generated, its spending is analyzed. The spending varies with the socio-economic status of an individual. The rich will focus more on investing in shares and enhancing their income further. The poor will focus more on improving their living standards and fulfilling the basic necessities of life. The pages are filled with housing, food, jewelry, investment, and bank savings. At the time of retirement, the addition to pages comes to an end and during old age, these filled pages start to get torn and wrinkled. The notebook of life thus comes to an end with death.
A small vegetable starts its day with labour-intensive activities forgoing the education and knowledge investment. The vendor still uses economics as he knows to sell the items at a price that is accepted at the demand and supply equilibrium. He also chooses to sell more items as the price increases and take leisure even less, taking the income effect to be superior to the A NOTEBOOK OF LIFE substitution effect. The vendor saves his vegetation for times of uncertainty. From the income earned he spends on his children's education trying to break the vicious cycle.
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A student in junior classes spends more time in leisure and recreational activities rather than studying. As she grows she spends more time studying and enhancing skills that are required for job prospects. Thus throughout their lifetime, every individual takes small economic decisions to become economically successful in future.
In conclusion, even a small child knows what their interests are and chooses their food and clothing. Economics lies in the very being of this creation and has been practiced and is being practiced till now. With diversification, economics has been widened and has entered every field in the globe.
Simran Kaur
Daulat Ram College
Delhi University
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