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Kerala setting up liquor co-operative

Kerala's obsession with the co-opertive sector continues unabated despite the umpteen co-operative flops in different spheres of economic activity.

Undeterred by bitter experiences in milk, rubber and coir marketing, the state government is now busy setting up co-operative societies for retail marketing of toddy.

The move has roused mixed reactions. The decision to entrust marketing of toddy to co-operative societies was taken by the state government recently in order to enhance quality and eliminate middlemen in liquor trade.

From April 1, 2001, toddy will be sold only through outlets run by the Toddy Worker's Cooperatives, while Indian made foreign liquor (IMFL) will be available at outlets run by state-sponsored Kerala State Beverages Corporation (KSBC), Kerala State Civil Supplies Corporation and Kerala State Consumers Co-operative Federation Ltd (Consumerfed).

Ironically, even as the deadline for closure of existing retail outlets is fast nearing, alternate arrangements for marketing through co-operative outlets is yet to be ready.

The state government, significantly, also stands to lose over Rs 1.1 billion during the current financial year as the instalment amount for co-operative societies has been fixed at Rs 300 million.

This is much lower than the Rs 1.4 billion received by the government last year in toddy shop auctions.

The state excise commissioner J Lalithambika claimed that registration of co-operative societies was in full swing in Thiruvananthapuram, Alapuzha and Thrissur districts. Registration formalities in other districts will follow, she said.

Only toddy workers who have enrolled themselves as members with the Toddy Workers' Welfare Fund Board will be allowed to set up societies for retail toddy marketing.

In several places, the number of registered toddy workers is insufficient to form a society and raise funds.

In this scenario, it is feared that Abkari contractors would grab control of these societies through the back door. There has also been allegations that the Communist Party of India (Marxist) which heads the ruling coalition has a major stake in many of the societies and therefore the toddy marketing scene would be dominated by the party.

With setting up of these societies the state government hopes that possibility of illicit liquor sales will now be confined to bar hotels alone.

Kerala's earlier experiments in cooperatives in education, coir marketing, rubber marketing, publishing, film-making among others were failure to a large extent because of political interference.

The co-operatives of liquor could be yet another failure if not implemented properly, Industry sources said.

UNI

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