The Supreme Court of India on March 31, 2017 finally disposed off its “final verdict” on banning sale of alcohol along National and State Highways upto 220 meters along the stretch of the highway, which passes through towns with a population of less than 20,000 people and with a population above 20,000 the earlier Judgement of December 15, 2016 of ban on sale of alcohol upto 500 meters with no signages or advertorial hoardings seen too, upto that distance without stay.
It was strange and flabbergasting, as to how both Attorney General of India as well as the then Advocate General of Goa missed the point and the intent of the SC thereby they sought to then mislead or misguide our Chief Minister Parrikar (from March 15-30) into temporarily believing that the ban would not apply to bars and restaurants selling liquor; until the Supreme Court on March 31, 2017 emphatically declared that the spirit of Law was clear that the sale of alcohol by vends automatically covered bars and restaurants too, since the Judgement was pronounced to curb drunken driving and the abuse of alcohol by one and all driving on Indian highways.
Sadly, a large section of the print media tried to impress upon the readership that drinking alcohol for occasions, festivities, and as a routine is a part of Goan ethos or culture! To add a nail to the coffin of Goan woes, it was emphasized by the reporting journalists that vending or serving alcohol is a major source of livelihood for Goans. The total approach to alcohol related livelihoods was not only erroneous, but, misleading too. Don’t give a dog a bad name and shoot! During the erstwhile Portuguese regime, there were no signs of Indian-made foreign liquor in Goa. It was just Portuguese Port wine or the local brew of cashew or the coconut feni which too was modestly available. There were no large cashew plantations then but local feni brewed from forested areas plantations.
By and large my parents, my siblings and my extended family, relatives and friends showed no attraction to alcohol even as of today. As an odd man out, I occasionally sip or drink during parties and occasions but never drinking was compulsive or a part of my ethos as claimed by some writers as a “Goan ethos”. It was much after Liberation, particularly after Goa became a touristic destination and tourism promoted as an industry with carnival promotions and emphasis on festivities to attract tourist flow into Goa, that there was a hundred-fold increase in demand for licenses for bars and restaurants. Below my house, there existed a hardware store, a transport company, a tailoring shop, a retail store and other coffee shops, which closed down in the mid-seventies and transferred their licenses to bars and tavernas. Hence, in my life time alone, my house was newly surrounded by 20 new bars in the last forty years although, there were none during the Portuguese-era and soon thereafter. Hence vending of alcohol was a Goa Liberation impact and not a Goan tradition.
Hence, sadly in the last forty years; alcohol abuse, wife beating, suicides and ailments connected to alcoholism was seen steeply rising by leaps and bounds due to unscientific growth of tourism centered around festivities – Drink, Dance and Die. As such 70% of the population in women and children of Goa do not consume alcohol at all. They rather are the victims of spouse alcoholism or alcohol abuse by the male in the family going astray and becoming a slave to alcohol.
Then we must salute a large sections of Goan Muslims, and a large section of our Hindu brethren and a sizeable Catholics too, who are teetotalers, accounting further about 15-18% of our population. Then there are about 10% of Goans, who drink occasionally in or during social functions; which are increasing though, as income and festivities in Goa are increasing; tourism-related liquor vends are sharply increasing in Goa in recent years. But what is alarming is alcohol related depressions, suicides, wife abuse, child beating and starvation, ulcers, cirrhosis, divorces, physiological disabilities, and accidents are growing alarmingly in recent times. But these incidences are swept under the carpet by the families that are suffering. However our Chief Minister has understood this menace and is acting fast.
It is gratifying that Herald has exposed this underbelly through the editorial dated April 9, 2017 and hence I wouldn’t elaborate this problem further as we all know one dies on Goan road on each passing day.
We must welcome the SC judgement of March 31, 2017 as it is directed to promote and preserve the Goan ethos of the yore. Today, the Excise Department is breaking state laws in the guise of tourism promotion by granting licenses within 100 meters of schools and religious institutions. This is illegal and must be punished. As such large number of accident deaths due to drunken driving goes unreported, so as to protect the insurance claims and compensation to the victim of drunken driving. The Goa government must give dignified employment by promoting agriculture, dairy farming, horticulture, fish farming, food processing skill development etc instead of parasitic livelihood of alcohol vending which destroys lives of other Goans and their families through vending alcohol and through promotion of gambling and drug trafficking leading to prostitution, rape, murders, theft and social unrest in our State which otherwise is very peaceful.
Goenkarponn means life of dignity creativity adding value to lives of all around in Goa and ushering sustainability using our ecosystem which would make Goa a ‘Happy Destination’, ‘Paradise on Earth’, through meaningful livelihoods enriching Goa and Goans without exploitation and degeneration of our values by terming wrongly that alcohol consumption is a part of Goan ethos, identity and culture.
