Thiruvananthapuram:
Jostling for their turn at a government run liquor shop has become a common sight in Kerala. Liquor sales touched a whopping 235 crore rupees in a single week during the Onam festival.
The state-run Beverages Corporation, the only wholesale supplier of liquor in the state, has now become the biggest money spinner for the government - even surpassing revenue from sale of petrol and diesel!
In the last four-and-a-half years, the revenue from sale of liquor in Kerala touched nearly Rs 15,000 crore more than the total revenue earned in the earlier 22 years.
Kerala: liquor paradise? Revenue from liquor sale
2006 - Present: Rs 14,922 crore
1984-2006: Rs 13,722 crore
Source: Kerala State Beverages Corporation "Am I happy that liquor consumption is going up? No never. But it's an assured source of revenue for the government. And even if I don't collect it, there will still be consumption of liquor," said Dr T M Thomas Issac, Finance Minister, Kerala.
While state coffers are filling up, Kerala's high liquor intake has doctors worried.
"In many instances, patients brought with some other complications are actually believed to be cases of alcohol abuse. They don't consider this as a stigma or something dangerous for health. They take it as a matter of prestige," said Dr Shyam Sundar, Consultant, Government General Hospital, Thiruvananthapuram.
But it doesn't help that young boys too are getting addicted.
"The liquor they sell is the tears of the women in the state. Even 13-year-old boys go to the bar to drink. And we just close our eyes to all this and pretend that everything is alright here," said Sugathakumari, noted poet and social activist.
With liquor sales being one of the biggest revenue sources for the government, it seems Kerala will retain the dubious distinction of being a tippler's paradise for some time.