Indians are known to be binge drinkers, more Indians are known to drink till they pass out or go out of control. Being drunk the whole day is not just limited to colleges and among youths in our country but has become a dependency of males in many families, these men have become a burden on their own people. A lot of criminal cases are recorded in India which have happened over alcohol or for alcohol.
Coming to the lowest class or even middle class families, domestic violence due to the male being drunk is an everyday routine. Yes there are many positive effects of alcohol consumption too, but we have mentioned all these points is to be clear that the same government of India who few years back put a complete ban on liquor, has now allowed the sale of liquor, during the pandemic, over other more important non essential items.
Besides just food and gas to cook, the modern man is dependent on many other things, and especially being in lockdown, families have got time to repair most of the broken items of their house. A leaking tap, pipeline or a tank is huge loss of water, at the same time, now being in more than two months of lockdown period, most of the people might have broken their phones or laptops on which their work is totally dependent. Meanwhile, salons are also a necessity.
The government has given us online payment options to recharge our set top box and mobile phones, but what about those old age people who are stranded in their house with their children being stuck in another part of the city or country. Whose going to provide them with regular updates of the virus and extension in lockdown, what if their cell phone have stopped working or the incoming and outgoing calls have been bared due to expired recharge.
Many established healthcare centers and medical practitioners have explained how the openings of liquor shops would be a threat to humans and how it will destroy the already not so stable health condition of India. Even in normal times a huge crowd can be seen outside liquor shops, most of them even start drinking around the liquor stores which sometimes even lead to crime scenes and fights.
According to a report from World Health Organization (WHO), alcohol kills 2.6 lakhs Indians every year and till now corona virus has killed around two thousand people. If calculated the corona virus would anytime take less lives than alcohol consumption per year.
The current global enemy is known to spread its roots through its hosts when in contact. The unhygienic atmosphere and the crowd of unstable drunkards around the alcohol stores prove that it is not a clever idea to allow liquor shops to come back in routine.
Recently when the central and state government allowed liquor shops to reopen in the third lockdown, Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC), Municipal Commissioner, Tukaram Mundhe decided to keep things as same as they were in previous two lockdowns, ordering the liquor store to be closed. The liquor shop owners were ready to gain income, which was surely going to be much more than normal days and they had also prepared themselves following the rules and drawing distancing circles with other measures.
Angered over the decision, few frustrated liquor store owners approached the Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court with a Public Interest Litigation. The case is still being held in HC, while the next hearing is on May 15, just two days before the third lockdown ends. But the big question here is, even after looking at the whole condition of the city, with 280 positive cases already, does reopening of the shops, even from the owners point of view is that important? Aren’t the other businesses facing loss in their income ?
Yes, India holds a large percentage of GDP through liquor but is that more important for the government over the health issues of their own citizens rather should be called voters.
We are inviting another outbreak,if liquor shops are meant to be open. With no social distancing and no hygiene, the rowdies and drunkards will spread the virus in no time, into their houses, on streets, spitting, lying already like a dead person.
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