Immature till 25, so no drink: Minister

The social justice and de-addiction minister Shivajirao Moghe’s statement has raised eyebrows once again. He said that youths reach maturity level only after reaching the age of 25 and hence the proposal of raising the drinking age was justified.
Moghe said that there was no question of rethinking the proposal, which bans those aged below 25 from consuming hard liquor.

“Every religion has stated that the drinking of liquor is not only hazardous to health but also ruins lives. Every person knows the ill effects of drinking, but de-addiction is a matter of mental determination. I think these mental capabilities come only by the age of 24 or 25,” he said.

Moghe also said that drinking is a psychological disease and self determination was must for people to overcome this habit. “It cannot be imposed on the drinkers, however, we can attempt to create awareness,” he said.

“Neither licensing is followed while selling liquor nor does the permit system have any control over the consumption. None of the government departments have been able to keep a tab on the age restriction. We don’t have that kind of machinery. Also, prohibiting people from drinking will not help,” Moghe said.

The minister also said that the liquor ban hasn’t proved successful anywhere. “We have witnessed it in Wardha, parts of Gujarat that the ban on liquor has only resulted in the black marketing of liquor. Also, the consumption has increased in these areas. Andhra Pradesh had to revoke the ban it imposed,” he said.

Moghe said that his department has demanded 1% of the excise revenue of Rs4,000 crore for the awareness programme.
He claimed that chief minister Prithviraj Chavan was all for the allocation.