Bhubaneswar: The Dil-Luminati India tour by popular Punjabi singer and actor Diljit Dosanjh proving a mega hit parade as thousands of his fans go crazy over the singer’s powerful voice and Bhangra at the concerts across the country. The popular singer is seen maximising the entertainment of the gung-ho crowd with his popular numbers like “5 Tara”, “Do You Know”, “GOAT”, “Proper Patola””Hass Hass”, “Lemonade”, “Kinni Kinni”, Naina”, “Ikk Kudi”, “Clash”, “Lover”, “Khutti”, and “Patiala Peg” et al.

The smooth run of the singer’s India Tour has hit the Hyderabad bump when on November 15, just before an hour of his show; the Telangana government served a legal notice on Diljit Dosanjh asking the singer to not sing songs that promote alcohol, drugs and violence.

It seems Diljit’s ‘Patiala Peg’ song has courted the controversy, though in another dance number GOAT, he was heard singing “Mitha jatt kaude ghut na mein peewan jattiye” (means I am a good man, I don’t drink alcohol). As per Telangana govt release, the notice is based on a complaint filed by Chandigarh resident who claimed Dosanjh songs promote alcohol, violence in the Delhi concert.  

The controversy grows bigger when at his Ahmedabad concert, the singer made a strong retort to the allegation on promoting ‘alcohol’. Taking to his instagram account, Diljit shared a video from the concert, where he criticised the states for paying lip service and not doing enough to stop liquor sales.

“Jitni bhi states hain humare yahan, agar woh saari apnie aapko dry state ghoshith kardeti hai, agle hi din Diljit Dosanjh apni life mein kabhi sharab pe gana nehin gayega. Mein pran karta hoon. Hosakta Yeh? (If all states in the country declare themselves dry state, the next day Diljit Dosanjh in his life time will never sing any sing on alcohol (sharab). I take a vow, can this happen?),” Diljit challenged.

Not satisfied, the popular singer in a witty reply to Telangana govt legal notice said in Ahmedabad doled out another “good offer”, “Ek din ke liye dry ghosit kar do, Mei sharab par nahin gaunga (Declare one-day dry on my show days, I will not sing alcohol songs).”

DILJIT DOSANJH’S CHALLENGE REALITY CHECK

The singer’s jibe at Telangana govt (and other states) over alcohol promotion gets the power from the following facts given below.

• India guzzles a massive 663 million litres of alcohol annually.
• The country is the 3^rd largest market for alcoholic beverages in the world
• Per capita alcohol consumption in India stands at 5.5 litres.
• Nearly 15% consume alcohol every day
• Over 43% consume once a week.
• Another 44% raise the toast less than once a week.

Apart from the above facts, Diljit’s dig at Telangana govt has been that when as per a study done by Madras Kamraj University sociology dept, the startling fact to fore is

• Five southern states - Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala - represent in excess of 45 percent of all alcohol sold in India.
• However, these states rake in excess of 10% of their incomes come from charges on alcohol deals.

UNION GOVT REPORT

The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment report has the following gave facts.

• Alcohol is the most common psychoactive substance used by Indians.
• Nationally, about 14.6% of the population (between 10 and 75 year of age) uses alcohol.
• In terms of absolute numbers, there are about 16 crore persons who consume alcohol in the country.
• Use of alcohol is considerably higher among men (27.3%) as compared to women (1.6%).
• For every one woman who consumes alcohol, there are 17 alcohol using men.
• Among alcohol users, country liquor or ‘desi sharab’ (about 30%) and spirits or Indian Made Foreign Liquor (about 30%) are the predominantly consumed beverages.
• States with the highest prevalence of alcohol use are Chhattisgarh, Tripura, Punjab, Arunachal Pradesh and Goa.

NFHS-5 REPORT 2021-22 

• Telangana has the highest consumption of alcohol in India, among the major states)
• 24.61% of its population over 15 years of age consumes alcohol.
• It is followed by Goa (20.94%) and Jharkhand (20.15%)
• Chhattisgarh is 4^th with 19.69% of population consuming alcohol.
• ODISHA and Assam may be considered joint 5^th 
• Because, the population consuming alcohol in Assam -16.2% and ODISHA – 16.13%. 

ALCOHOL REVENUE

As per Union govt of India Budget document, Puducherry tops the country where a whopping 34% of the state’s tax revenue comes from excise duty collection on alcoholic beverages.

• The Telangana government has collected Rs 36, 493cr liquour revenue in 2023-24.
• On average, in almost all states, nearly one-fourth of tax revenue comes from liquor sales.

ODISHA SCAN 

As reported above, in alcohol consumption, Odisha sits on the top -5 ‘High’ table. The liquor revenue and sales are eye-popping.

• In 2022-23, the OSBC (Odisha State Beverage Corporation) sales data shows, total Indian made alcohol sales in the State stood at 258.42 lakh cases
• The sale of foreign made foreign liquor stood at over 1.9 lakh cases
• The growth in Indian made liquor, including country spirit, had been a whopping 34%
• However, the eye popping growth had been recorded in growth of foreign made foreign liquor sales.
• Data shows the sales clocked 600% rise vis-à-vis the previous year
• The sales in 2021-22 was 28.065k
• The sales in 202-23 jumped to over 1.9lakh
• The excise revenue stood at Rs 7, 524 cr.

BOTTOM LINE: The bottom line is states are raking the moolah from alcohol sales, and fearing revenue loss they never push the STOP button. The flush in revenue then give them the elbow room to launch populist schemes for votes. But studies have also nailed the side effects of alcohol.

Take a look at a national level study titled “Assessing the Economic Burden of Alcohol Use in India Compared to Excise Taxes on Alcohol Sales” that has the following observations.

• The annual economic burden of alcohol use in India runs over six trillion rupees.
• Economic burden exceeds revenue from excise taxes noting net loss.
• Economic burden varies across states with Maharashtra having the largest burden.
• All of the top ten revenue-earning states depict net losses in primary analysis