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FY 2015-16: HIC-HIC HURRAY
* Revenue earned from taxes (VAT not included): Rs 236 cr
* Rs 130 cr garnered from Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL)
* Beer emerges as single biggest contributor with Rs 79 cr
* Excise from imported foreign liquor stands at Rs 22 crore
* Wine contributes Rs 3 crore to the state exchequer
* Country liquor, including feni, contributes Rs 1.5 crore
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Alcoholism might not be good for the individual, but it rakes in the moolah for the government.
Alcohol made the State government richer by Rs 236 crore, all from excise duty collection in FY 2015-16. Excise is applicable on the manufacture of all kinds of alcohol including beer, whiskey, vodka, wine, rum and feni.
Every peg of whiskey or pint of beer you consume helps not only the manufacturer but even the government making money through taxes.
Beer has emerged as the single biggest contributor to state excise. Its contribution stood at Rs 79 crores in 2015-16. The state earned a whopping Rs 130 crores on excise through Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL), which includes whiskey, vodka, rum and other alcoholic beverages which originated outside India, but are manufactured in India.
The state government imposes excise even on foreign liquor, which is imported in Goa from other parts of the world. Excise from foreign liquor stood at Rs 22 crores in FY 2015-16. Wine contributed Rs 3 crores to the state exchequer through excise. It must be noted that wine is still an upcoming variety of alcohol not only in Goa but in other parts of India as well.
That being the reason, wine’s sales are a lot lesser than beer, whiskey and other kinds of alcohol and hence its excise contribution is also low. Interestingly, country liquor, which includes Goa’s much loved feni, contributed just Rs 1.5 crores through excise to the state government in FY 2015-16.
This shows the extent that feni has lost out to other kinds of alcohol in the competitive race. But then the connoisseurs aren’t complaining, as the state government made a good sum through excise thanks mostly to beer and IMFL.
The sum of Rs 236 crores earned by the state government through excise doesn’t include value-added-tax (VAT), which is applicable when you drink at a pub or a restaurant. VAT may stretch up to 20-22% for alcoholic drinks, if consumed at restaurants, hotels or pubs.
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Goan youth on road to alcoholism
Young adults admitted to GMC with liver, pancreatic disease
Though the prevalence of alcoholism in the state is 45 percent, a rather disturbing trend is of its prevalence among youth. Though no number has been put to show bad the situation is, doctors working at the Goa Medical College (GMC) vouch for the fact that there are younger adults being admitted for complications due to alcohol consumption.
Dr Rajesh Patil, associate professor and surgeon at the hospital said he has witnessed a rise in the number of 20 year old getting admitted to GMC.
“According to cases registered at Goa Medical College (GMC), youngsters are getting in to the vice of addiction to alcoholism. Complications including liver cancer and complications of the pancreas, have also been observed in patients as young as 20,” he said.
According to him, for a youngster to advance to a stage of liver cancer would require them to begin consumption of alcohol at the age of 15. “The problem if caused by alcohol consumption would be a cause of drinking continuously for a minimum of 5 to 7 years. This would mean that the youngster would have had to start drinking at the age of 15 years. And this is a disturbing trend,” said Dr Patil.
The cause behind the rising trend is as a result of teenagers being introduced to alcohol at a young age. Dr. Patil as well as members of the Alcoholic Anonymous group around the state have conducted several workshops and seminars in schools and according to them, students mostly from the ninth and tenth grade tend to fall prey to alcoholism.
After a day of school, students usually tend to go to restaurants and shacks, as waiters and helpers, where they hope to earn a few rupees, some work in exchange for booze. AA members who work with those that want to stop their addiction to alcohol often find only a few students at their weekly meetings.
“Most don’t see it as a problem and are not aware of it being a disease. Which is where we come and sensitize them about the issue and leave it up to them if they want to make a change,” said the AA member.
Dr Patil points to Goa’s culture as well as parent’s attitudes towards the growing problem. “Goan culture promotes a culture of alcohol being socially accepted. Parents give their children alcohol not with the aim of making it a habit or for it to become an addiction. This unseen culture is very much present,” he said.
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SUPREME COURT ON ALCOHOLISM
* The court cannot be blind to the fact that a social stigma at least as far as the family unit is concerned is still attached to the consumption of alcohol
* Free trade in alcohol denudes family resources and reserves and leaves women and children as its most vulnerable victims
* So far as this trade is concerned, Article 47 of the Constitution places a responsibility on every State Government to at least contain if not curtail consumption of alcohol…
