Thiruvananthapuram: The Left Democratic Government had pledged to promote abstinence as it came to power five years ago. Ironically, liquor sales boomed since then, even though Kerala had witnessed an unprecedented economic crisis during 2018-20 in the aftermath of floods and the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, the raging pandemic did not matter to tipplers in Kerala as they gulped down record Rs 750 crore worth of liquor during the 10-day Onam festival, according to the sole wholesaler of liquor and beer in the state -- Bevco.

As per current estimates, Kerala has more than 50 per cent of the daily new Covid cases and has the highest number of active cases in the country and this did not turn a deterrent as tipplers armed with vaccine certificates lined up before 260 retail outlets of Bevco. The profile of liquor users in the state in an earlier study reveal that around 32.9 lakh people out of the 3.34 crore population in the state consume liquor, which includes 29.8 lakh men and 3.1 lakh women.

This Onam season also saw the Bevco retail outlet, located near the State Secretariat registering the highest ever daily sale of Rs 1.04 crore and it took place on Friday, which saw the total daily sales peak by Rs 85 crore. Around five lakh people in Kerala, consume liquor on a daily basis. Of this, around 83,851 people including 1,043 women are addicted to alcohol, according to state government statistics.

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