Take revolutionary step of liquor ban: H K Patil to Yediyurappa

PTI, May 1, 2020, 11:49 AM IST

Bengaluru: Veteran Congress leader H K Patil on Friday made a strong pitch for total prohibition in Karnataka to lay the foundation for “a happy, peaceful and joyful society,” saying COVID-19 lockdown during which liquor sales are banned has given a great opportunity for the ‘revolutionary’ step.

In a letter to Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, Patil, a former state Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister, said nature has given a great opportunity to him to take the “revolutionary step of liquor ban” and build an ideal society free from addiction.

The 66-year old leader, an MLA, appealed to Yediyurappa to say goodbye to the administrative policy (allowing liquor sales), which gave Mahatma Gandhi’s dream of prohibition for an addiction-free society a “go-by and focused” only on revenue generation.

“Liquor addicts are confined to homes and are relearning the human values of love, affection, compassion, sacrifice and mercy. We are moving towards building an ideal society due to the ban on booze,” Patil said, referring to the closure of liquor shops during the ongoing national lockdown to fight coronavirus.

Besides peace in the families, the temporary liquor ban has improved the health of lakhs of people as their medical expenditure had come down drastically, which in turn added value to the human resources, Patil said.

The Congress leader, representing Gadag in the assembly, highlighted the ill-effects of liquor such as lethargy, sinful life, misuse of power, clashes, lack of peace and corruption.

Slamming the opponents of prohibition, he said those who said the liquor ban was not possible can see how effectively it has been enforced now.

Denouncing the argument that the ban on liquor was a huge loss of revenue to the state exchequer, Patil said, “Atrocities on women have come down and peace has returned to the families. These achievements cannot be measured in terms of currency. Money cannot buy peace, love and harmony.”

After the national lockdown began on March 24, retail liquor shops have been shut across the country.