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.
Arth
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Gender Disparity in India’s Labour Force: Looking into Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR)
Introduction
As per a report from McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) in 2018, India's women contribute only 18 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). According to the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Index (GGG) report released in 2022, India was ranked 135 out of 146 countries. In the GGG Index Report 2022, India's score with respect to Economic Participation and Opportunity is less than the global average. Similarly, the Global Gender Gap Report 2021 highlighted that the gender gap with respect to economic participation has widened by 3 percent in India due to declining economic opportunities for women.
According to former IMF chief Christine Lagarde and former Norway Prime Minister Erna Solberg, India's GDP will rise by 27 percent if India has gender parity in labour force participation. Similarly, as per the MGI report, India could add 770 billion USD to its GDP by 2025 by offering equal opportunities to women. Thus, low female labour force participation levels can have negative economic effects, reducing potential growth rates. Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) indicates the number of people aged between 16 and 64 years who are either currently working or finding employment. In other words, LFPR indicates the percentage of the population in the labour force. This write-up aims to analyze India's LFPR and find the reasons for less female labour force participation in India.
LFPR in India
Until 2016, the LFPR data was collected by the Labour Bureau under the Ministry of Labour and Employment as part of the Employment-Unemployment Survey (EUS), and it will also be published in the annual reports of the Ministry of Labour and Employment. Since April 2017, the National Statistical Office (NSO) has collected India's LFPR data as part of the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS).
Analysis of Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) Data
As per the PLFS data (given in Table 1 and Fig.1), there is a clear-cut gender disparity in both rural and urban areas of India. The gender disparity is relatively higher in urban areas than in rural areas because more women engage in rural agricultural jobs as the farmers mainly engage their family members to do agricultural activities, which will aid the farmers and cost-saving. Moreover, rural women find agricultural jobs both flexible and proximate. On the other hand, in urban areas, the availability of employment opportunities that meet the conditions of proximity and flexibility is significantly lower. Thus, gender disparity in the labour force is greater in urban areas than in rural areas.
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Table 1: LFPR as per PLFSa
Source: (Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation, 2022)
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In 2019-20, there has been a spike of nearly 5 percent in rural female LPFS. This spike is contributed mainly by the rise in female unpaid family workers in the rural household sector. Despite many government policies, there has been a slow rise in the female labour force participation rate in the past few years. Similarly, the gender disparity is also reducing at a slow pace.
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Fig.1: LFPR as per PLFS
Source: (Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation, 2022)
Common Reasons for Declining Female LFPR
Rising household wealth and women being considered as secondary income earners:
A rise in household income and wealth will adversely affect the female LFPR. For instance, a report written by Steven Kapsos and other co-authors in 2014 estimated that nearly 9 percent of the total decline in India's female LFPR between 2005 and 2010 is contributed by the rise in household income and wealth.
Women's entry and exit from the Indian labour force have a positive correlation with the income of the other household members. Moreover, males in many households take pride when the woman quits her job and takes care of the family and household. Thus, the presence of a perception that women are secondary earners of a household is evident.
Double Burden of Work:
A woman is expected to take care of the family and perform unpaid domestic work. In the case of a working woman, job and unpaid household work will become a double burden, which is likely to be challenging to manage.
According to OECD data, women in India spend more time on unpaid domestic work than on paid work. Similarly, Indian women spend nearly 352 minutes daily on unpaid domestic work, whereas males only spend 52 minutes daily on unpaid domestic work.
This double burden of work for a woman leads to a compromise of her leisure time. Moreover, the double burden of work may adversely affect women's health conditions. Ultimately, the adverse health conditions of women will force them to quit the Indian labour force.
Concerns about Women's Safety and Mobility:
India has got 148th rank out of 170 countries in the Women, Peace, and Security Index report 2021. Moreover, only 56 percent of Indian women feel that the community or environment around them is safe. The concern about women's safety in public places and the workplace adversely affects women's freedom of mobility and ultimately prevents women from participating in the labour force. In other words, the violence or crime against women in India is also a reason for lower female labour participation. Increasing the public expenditure on ensuring safety in public areas and workplaces can increase female LFPR in India.
Government Schemes that may improve Female LFPR
Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA):
The act ensures the effective participation of women by mandating that one-third of jobs under the scheme should be given to women. Although the female LFPR was consistently declining in the 2010s, a study conducted by Mehtabul Azam found that the female LFPR is relatively low in districts that experienced an effective implementation of MGNREGA than in districts where the act was not properly implemented. Thus, if MGNREGA is properly implemented, then in a way, MGNREGA will contribute to improving the female LFPR in India.
Free Bus Travel for all women in Tamil Nadu:
In 2021, Tamil Nadu Government announced a scheme that enables every woman to travel on any government town bus within the state at free of cost. This scheme ensures women commute anywhere within the city through government town buses at free of charge.
It encourages poor women to work in workplaces that are far away from their residences. Since the scheme provides free-of-cost commuting to women, it may motivate many women to enter the labour force.
Other Significant Legislations:
The Union government enacted the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act of 2017, which increased the paid maternity leave of women from 12 weeks to 26 weeks. The Union Government has mandated that firms with 50 or more employees should have a crèche facility. Moreover, in 2013, the Union Government passed the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, which legally safeguards women from sexual assaults or any form of sexual violence in the workplace. The aforementioned legislation will make the workplace more women-friendly and encourage more females to enter the labour force.
The Union government enhances the skill sets of women by providing training to women through Women Industrial Training institutes, National Vocational Training Institutes, and Regional Vocational Training Institutes. The skill enhancement training will increase the employability of women. Moreover, skill enhancement training will improve women's confidence and encourage them to enter the labour force.
Conclusion
According to the sixth economic census conducted by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, women represent 13.76% of the total entrepreneurs in India. Only 5 out of 136 Indian "unicorn" startups are founded by women. Thus, India witnesses gender disparity beyond the LFPR. However, firstly the government should focus on ensuring gender parity in LFPR by providing flexible and women-friendly labour market arrangements, which encourage more women to enter the labour force.
Alternatively, the government can encourage female entrepreneurship. A rise in India's female entrepreneurs will increase India's female LFPR. In other words, an increase in female entrepreneurs indicates a rise in self-employed females. Ultimately, the female LFPR increases.
References
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Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation. (2022). Periodic labour Force Survey (PLFS) – Annual Report [July, 2020 – June, 2021]. Retrieved August 2022, from https://pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=1833855
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OECD. (2022). Time Use. Retrieved August 2022, from https://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?datasetcode=TIME_USE
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Sheriff, M. (2022). Explained: What is POSH, the law against sexual harassment in India?. Retrieved August 2022, from https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/everyday-explainers/explained-posh-law-against-sexual-harassment-in-india-7825733/
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Woetzel, J., Madgavkar, A., Sneader, K., Tonby, O., Lin, D., & Lydon, J. et al. (2018). The power of parity: Advancing women’s equality in India, 2018. Retrieved August 2022, from https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/gender-equality/the-power-of-parity-advancing-womens-equality-in-india-2018
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World Bank. (2018). Women in India's Economic Growth. Retrieved August 2022, from https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/speech/2018/03/17/women-indias-economic-growth
Sahasrajit Senthil
Christ (Deemed uni.), Bangalore
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