One in five booze buyers in Odisha capital a student: Survey

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Jul 3:

Out of every five persons that buy liquor from licensed liquor outlets in the Odisha capital and its suburbs, one is a student.

Pic Courtesy:www.hospitalitydirectory.com.au

Moreover, despite restrictions on the sale of liquor to persons below 21 years of age, in most of the outlets, it was found to be openly flouted.

Such disturbing trends have emerged from a survey conducted by Odisha Mada Mukti Abhiyaan (OMMA) on about 2,000 customers purchasing liquor from licensed liquor outlets in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, and their suburbs. Out of them, 1.5 percent are below the age of 16 years.

Volunteers of OMMA conducted a survey at 30 liquor shops located in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and their suburbs for a week at different points of time between 10.30 AM to 10.30 PM.

The survey has found that while 18 percent of the liquor buyers were in the age group of 16-21years, 20 percent were in the age group of 21-30 years. Around 40 percent of the liquor customers were in the age bracket of 30-50 years while 20.5 percent were above 50 years of age.

The most disturbing among the findings is that 420 out the 2,000 liquor buyers surveyed were students, which is a whopping 21 percent. The number of students purchasing liquor in Bhubaneswar was 1.5 times more than that of Cuttack. Further, the survey found out that students buying liquor in the state capital mostly stayed in private hostels and more than 30 percent of them were non-Odias.

That apart 37 percent of those who bought liquor were daily wage earners, construction workers, and small businessmen, the survey has revealed.

The most interesting trend that the survey has revealed is that 12 percent of those who bought liquor were unemployed youths.

The survey has found that most of those buying liquor from liquor shops consumed their drink either at the roadside food stalls, nearby parks or openly on culverts on public roads.

What is more worrying is while section 54 of the Bihar-Odisha Excise Act and section 61 of the Odisha Excise Act provides for punishing liquor shop owners selling liquor to persons below the age of 21, it’s not being implemented.