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As the debate over an alcohol bans grows across India, 15 people die every day - or one every 96 minutes - from the effects of drinking alcohol, reveals an IndiaSpend analysis of 2013 National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data, the latest available.
The per capita consumption of alcohol in India increased 38 per cent, from 1.6 litres in 2003-05 to 2.2 litres in 2010-12, according to a World Health Organisation (WHO) report, which also revealed that more than 11 per cent of Indians were binge drinkers, against the global average of 16 per cent.
The data explain the wide political support for crackdowns on alcohol, although experts point out that alcohol is a health problem - not a moral one.
Liquor ban
In Tamil Nadu, J. Jayalalithaa shut down 500 liquor stores on May 23, the first day of her fourth term as chief minister. In April, Bihar imposed prohibition - a ban on the sale, production and consumption of alcohol. In August 2014, Kerala restricted the sale of liquor to five-star hotels.
Pre-poll surveys in Kerala and Tamil Nadu found wide support for prohibition, 47 per cent of men and women in Kerala and 52 per cent in Tamil Nadu, the Indian Express reported. The leading reason for the ban, respondents said, was alcohol-fuelled domestic violence.
Before the latest crackdowns on alcohol, Gujarat and Nagaland were the only Indian states with prohibition.
Maharashtra tops alcohol-related deaths
Maharashtra reported the most alcohol-related deaths, followed by Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, according to the NCRB data, with experts saying high rates of alcoholism correlate with high crime rates.
S. Raju, of Tamil Nadu's Makkal Adhikaram (People's Power) told the BBC:
"Major crimes and accidents are fuelled by alcohol, which also leads to sexual harassment of women and robberies, Alcohol abuse is also the reason why Tamil Nadu has the largest number of widows under 30 years of age."A quarter of all hospital admissions and 69 per cent of all crimes in Kerala are due in part to intoxication, according to the Alcohol and Drug Information Centre, an NGO, quoted in The Economist.
"Prohibition of substances which give pleasure to people does not work. Addiction is a health problem, not a moral one, and there are many proven strategies which can reduce its burden. The desire to address the serious social problems caused by a minority of those who consume alcohol by prohibition is a travesty of the experience of history and public health science. Prohibition is rejected by most public health scientists who know this field; even the World Health Organisation does not recommend it." - Vikram Patel
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