Govt persists with permit raj despite graft & irrelevance

MUMBAI: A fervent debate might be raging in the society over the high drinking age in Maharashtra, but for officials who are serving or have served in the state excise department there is little to discuss. They almost unanimously agree that the norms on drinking age and drinking permits are impracticable to enforce.
State officials say that flying squads appointed by the excise department pay more attention to action against illicit liquor and duty-evaded alcohol apart from issuing licences to bar, restaurants and permit rooms.Enforcing the 25-year-age limit and the permit raj would only encourage consumption of illicit liquor, they say.
It is not as if attempts have not been made to abolish the permit system. In 2009, the excise department had proposed to do away with the system completely because it was not a "practical" option and was giving rise to corruption. The proposal, however, not got implemented.
In its request, the excise department had pointed out that the idea behind introducing the permit system was to discourage liquor consumption-an idea that had not worked.
The number of drinkers in the state far outnumbered the numbers holding a permit.
The department's proposal also highlighted that, to be on the right side of the law, liquor stores and restaurants were using permits issued in the name of those known to them (employees, relatives and friends) to sell liquor to customers. And in the name of enforcing the law, the proposal reportedly said, the police were harassing innocent people.
Arguing that states like Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Delhi had a ceiling on the consumption limit but not a permit raj, the state excise department recommended scrapping Maharashtra's permit system as well.
A senior state official said that the political leadership in the state at that time (Ashok Chavan was the CM) was not in favour of the idea and the proposal was never processed. Further, on July 21, 2009, the state cabinet restricted the sale of alcohol to just two bottles a week (250 ml) per permit holder instead of the 12 bottles allowed earlier.
A retired state official said that even this decision, which was taken following a protest by social activist Anna Hazare, was not practical.
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