A study on Impact of Consumption of Alcohol (Alcohol-o-nomics) in Kanyakumari District of Tamilnadu

Abstract

Tamil Nadu has a unique and disturbing relationship with alcohol. Under prohibition for many decades, until the 1970s when the policy was revoked, its liquor policy has been marked by ambivalence.  The Dravidian parties formed to rule the State of Tamilnadu since 1967, have phenomenally enlarged the scope of the business while crying hoarse about the “evils of alcohol”. (The Hindu, dated on 24 July 2023)  The moral confusion has meant that even as alcoholism is a major social problem, the conditions in which alcohol is sold and consumed at the government-controlled outlets are squalid, affording no dignity either to customers or staff. The confusion seems to clear up when the annual sales and revenue figures arrive: they break records every year. Yet, the workers remain poorly paid, the outlets shoddy, and the quality of alcohol is bad at all level. Therefore, the Governments should take adequate measures at policy level to control or stop the alcoholics could be the main one to control this habit.   However, the implementation of this policy requires much political will on the part of the government.