The reasons for prohibition
Jagan promised prohibition to women in rural communities
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Jagan’s policy on alcohol follows the same pattern. Before the elections, in 2019, he vowed to introduce a prohibition on alcohol in the state on the grounds that it was “ruining families and destroying human relationships.”
It was clear that this was a popular step: in recent years there had been increasing activism in favour of prohibition, led by women from poorer backgrounds, mainly in rural areas. In 2017, groups of women began attacking “belt shops” – illegal alcohol outlets – in villages across the state, tired of the men in their families spending so much on alcohol and neglecting their families as a result.
“Rampant alcoholism has brought economic and social ruin to lakhs of families in rural Andhra Pradesh. Men spent their entire earnings of the day on liquor, leaving families in penury. They could not have proper food, kids dropped out of school, and had no money if they fell sick,” said Shiran Rahman, who works for an NGO that campaigns for prohibition.
As a result, many women became the main breadwinners for their families as their husbands fell deeper into alcoholism. At the same time, they became more active in civil society and made their demands clear to politicians. When Jagan travelled across the state during his 2017 padayatra, women in rural areas told him that they would vote for him if he promised to ban liquor.
It wouldn’t be the first time for Andhra Pradesh. In the 1994 elections prohibition was also a key issue, and NT Rama Rao, leader of the Telugu Desam Party, also promised a complete alcohol ban if elected. Unlike Jagan, Rama Rao followed through: prohibition was imposed from 1995 and lasted for two years.
But Rama Rao’s successor as Chief Minister, N Chandrababu Naidu, revoked the ban in 1997. Prohibition had brought problems of its own. The first was the rise in crime related to illicit alcohol manufacture, distribution and consumption; the second was the loss in tax revenue to the state. It has never been a simple question with a simple solution.