comes, ironically, from Gandhi's Dandi March (also called Salt March) 75 years ago, which protested the salt laws of the British rule in India. Gandhi, who also said that you have the duty to disobey unjust laws, was the chief proponent of an alcohol-free India. One of our objectives is to make a case that the context under which Gandhi instituted prohibition is not valid today. Today, alcohol prohibition in Gujarat is an outdated, corruption and crime breeding, short sighted law which must be systematically removed. Keeping up with Bapu's spirit, the Maltmarch community plans to march to the Sachivalay and have a drink in defiance of the prohibition law (date undecided). 
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MaltMarch's stand is that prohibition can be removed responsibly and systematically in Gujarat without sacrificing Gandhian principles or the concerns of pro-prohibitionists (politicians, cops, bootleggers not included). It can also be done in such a manner which reduces corruption & crime (which is at No. 5 in India per capita), benefits the underprivileged, increases governance across the state, and assist in lowering domestic violence by keeping alcohol out of reach of irresponsible citizens. The fear of the pro-prohibitionists is that these will increase if prohibition is removed, but ask any economist and she will give you a more informed and educated opinion. In other states in India, alcohol tax makes up more than 12% of the Government's revenues. In Gujarat, that chunk goes to organized crime and corrupt politicians who don't shy away from using any form of resources to make sure the "fear" of alcohol remains ever present, which in turn affects the vote bank. Its a self-fulfilling prophecy.
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GUJARAT - OUT OF THE INVESTMENT RACE
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Major brewing groups are clamouring to get into India, which, by dint of its young population, expanding economy and rising personal disposable income offers huge growth potential.
Concerned Gujarat Vidyapeeth students invite MaltMarchers for a debate
Feb. 19, 2007: Today, the three of us - myself (Dinesh), Abhishek Shah and Kanan Dhru paid a visit to Gujarat Vidyapeeth on the invitation of a few post-grad students. Gujarat Vidyapeeth, under the leadership of its Vice Chancellor Sudarshan Iyenger, is organizing a massive rally on Feb 21st against any thing and everything to do with the likelihood of relaxation of the prohibition policy in Gujarat. Some concerned students wanted to hear the rationale behind our anti-prohibition motivation.
I want my FREEDOM OF CHOICE!
Six dacades after independence, Gujarat state Laws still bans liqour in the state.
Apart from being illogical and out of sync with norms nationwide and also worldwide, this prohibition impedes the right to choose. I personally think that in india, laws of democracy have no place for such absurd legislation.
Report: "Levels of Living, Poverty & Liquor Consumption - A study of Ahmedabad Slums"
This concise report has been adopted from the authors:
1. R. Radhakrishna
2. Bhanumati K. Parikh
3. N C Shah
report on "An exploratory study on slums: Employmnet, poverty and liquor consumption; A Case study of Ahmedabad slums, Sardar Patel Institute of Economic and Social Research, Ahmedabad", which was commissioned by the Government of Gujarat.
Hypocrisy & Liquor in Gujarat
If you read the Gujarat newspapers you would feel that politicians in Gujarat are very ethical people championing the cause of prohibition.
Far from it.
We in India have a tradition of Public posturing while our actions privately are diametrically opposite. This applies more to our politicians who posture as paragons of good virtues. For the citizens of Gujarat its imperative to have leaders who apply their personal principles to politics. I am hoping to see a leader who publicly acknowledges that he is fond of the good stuff. Political hypocrisy should be exposed & people can make up their own mind about prohibition. Some laws made in the late 1800s actually ban kite flying. Every mature society should review its social order & laws every few years.
Battering (domestic violence against women) is a learned behaviour, no link to alcohol consumption
I have a very simple question to ask the pro-prohibitionists. If they ever do consume alcohol, will they follow it up by beating up their spouse? Well, all the people I know who drink certainly don't.
Ahmedabad Management Association (AMA) holds a Lecture cum Debate on Prohibition: Pros & Cons
On Feb 13, AMA held a lecture cum debate on "Prohibition: Pros and Cons". Mr. Rajiv Vastupal, president of AMA, later told me that he had no intention to have all four speakers to be anti-prohibition and had selected the speakers based on some of them having taken a pro-prohibition stand earlier, but that person changed over to anti-prohibition later after studying all the issues and data available. All the four speakers:
Foreign exchange student in support of Maltmarch
Hi everyone, I'm currently studying at CEPT University and the most frustrating thing we've found so far is you just can't go out for a sociable drink with friends or enjoy a glass of wine with dinner here - instead we are forced to get expensive permits and hide away in our home if we want to enjoy a quiet beer.
If the Government doesn't collect Rs. 2500 Crs. on Liquor taxes, who does?
Taxes collected from sales of liquor in other states of India, makes up, on an average, around 12% of the state's income. Topping the list is Karnataka, which makes 18% of its income through taxes collected on Alcohol, amounting to Rs. 4,060 Crores. Gujarat, on the other end, makes a paltry Rs. 58 Crores!!
Everyone knows alcohol is available in Gujarat, and the estimates of the amount that the Government loses because of Prohibition is Rs. 2,500 crores! Around 50% of the price of a liquor bottle sold is comprised of a combination of taxes - except in Gujarat where the taxes are not paid at all since, technically, no booze is sold. Pro-Prohibitionists argue that Gujarat doesn't need this income, we are doing fine without it. But does such a short sighted answer consider the fact that Rs. 2,500 crores are going into fuelling corruption, underworld crime and everything that pro-prohibitionists consider unwanted at any cost? So, please wake up and realize that prohibition is a failed experiment. It is a self defeating system, as other countries around the world have also learnt time and time again. cont....
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