The Hindu

Ban on arrack sale to come into force from July 1 

• ‘Most arrack consumers likely to switch over to IML’
•  Department to adopt ‘wait-and-watch’ policy

Mangalore, Jun 22: “If they have no bread, let them eat cake!” (“S’ils n’ont plus de pain, qu’ils mangent de la brioche.”) This famous quote attributed to French queen Marie Antoinette may well find a new meaning from July 1 when a decision by the State Government to impose a ban on arrack comes into force. The Excise Department may now well say, “If they do not have arrack, they will have Indian-made liquor.”

With less than 10 days to go for the Government ban to come into force, officials of the Excise Department in Dakshina Kannada are gearing up to meet the responsibility given to them in this regard. Excise Deputy Commissioner N M  Hussain told The Hindu here that the department would take steps to ensure that all contractors wound up operations in the district on June 30. There would be no supply of arrack after that, he said.

Rentals from arrack shops accounted for around 50 per cent of the total revenue earned by the department in 2006-07. The total revenue got through arrack rentals alone was Rs. 7.67 crore a month or Rs. 92.04 crore of the total revenue of Rs. 188.26 crore earned by the department during 2006-07. The remaining revenue came from the sale of India-Made Liquor (IML), additional duties and excise duties, fines and other heads.

More revenue

In fact, the department had netted 30 per cent more revenue in 2006-07 as compared to 2005-06, when its total collection, including through arrack rentals, was Rs. 144.47 crore. When asked how the department proposed to meet the likely fall in revenue owing to the ban on arrack, Hussain said that he hoped the revenue collection would be buoyed through an increased sale of IML. Eighty lakh litres of IML was consumed in the district in 2006-07, he said, and added that the consumption of IML was expected to go up.

However, Hussain was cautious when asked to project estimated revenue collections for 2007-08. He said that the exact impact of the halt in the sale of arrack would be known only after July 1. The Excise Department was expecting most arrack consumers to switch over to cheaper brands of IML. But this switchover would depend on the tastes and purchasing ability of individuals, he said, and added that the department would adopt a wait-and-watch policy in this regard.

With regard to the Government’s move to empower the police to handle excise offences other than those committed by persons holding licenses issued by the department, he said that the Government could set up a separate cell in the Police Department to act in this regard.