Getting governance right

 Government can sometimes be the theatre of the absurd. A branch of the Delhi government, the Department of Prohibition, does its best to preach the ills of drinking.

 Indeed, the Department of Prohibition is so enthusiastic about its work that it spends Rs 1.6 crore a year on publicity against liquor in Delhi alone. Interestingly, all this was done even while their own survey of 293 people who drink found that 292 knew the hazards of drinking.

 At the same time, the Delhi State Industrial Development Corporation runs 83 liquor retail outlets to sell Indian made foreign liquor and country liquor. So we have one arm of the Delhi government digging holes and another that is filling them up. This corporation seeks to ensure the availability of genuine liquor to the customers at approved rates. They are going strong at it, and plan to open more outlets.

 Another similar agency, the Delhi Tourism and Transportation Development Corporation runs another 38 retail outlets for country liquor and 93 outlets for Indian made foreign liquor. More than half the staff of the corporation works in these outlets