‘In Pune, people prefer foreign liquor over country-made’

Sunil Narayan Chavan, the new superintendent of police, state excise, plans to curb the sale of illicit liquor in the state. The son of a farmer, Chavan is a civil engineer from the Bharati Vidyapeeth College of Engineering. After clearing the Maharashtra Public Service Commission examination (MPSC) in 1995, he joined as deputy superintendent in 1997 and in 2000 got a promotion. Chavan has worked in Kolhapur, Usmanabad and Mumbai. He is now posted in Pune. Chavan spoke to DNA about his plans. He is heading a staff of 50 members who work in14 different divisions in the city.

What prompted you to join this department?
After getting a degree, I started working with Kirloskar Company as a consultant, but was not satisfied with my job. As I come from a rural background and due to social bindings, I started preparing for the MPSC examination. I was not able to clear the exam in first go, but in the second attempt I got through.

Tell us how can one procure liquor permit and which is the most preferred of all?
There are three different types of liquor permits. One is lifelong liquor permit for which an applicant has to pay Rs1,000 as fee and provide age proof and two photographs. Second is yearly permit for which you have to pay Rs100 and the third is one-day permit for which one has to shell out Rs2 for country-made liquor and Rs5 for foreign made liquor. The benefit is that one can transport, keep or drink alcohol as per convenience. However, drinking and driving is prohibited.

What difference have you observed in Pune and other districts when it comes to consumption of alcohol?
In Pune, people are mature and during New Year eve, we had given 1.75 lakh permits for day liquor consumption.
Most of them belonged to the age group of 26 to 35 year-old. In Pune, most of the people prefer drinking foreign liquor rather than country-made. In other districts, there is more demand for country-made liquor.

What are your future plans?
Our main motive is to collect revenue for the state and curb the sale of illicit liquor, which is taking place in the city. We regularly carry out search operations and conduct raids in the city. If any one has information about sale of illicit liquor, contact the state excise department on 020-26127321, 9422006474, 9689896372 or 9667465568.