Click to play videoNew Delhi: Twenty-three-year old Anil Jha likes his lager but for him it means breaking the law every weekend because under Delhi's draconian excise policy, he is not old enough to drink.
But if the new excise policy of the government of Delhi comes through, and 21-year-olds are allowed a drink, Jha will finally be on the right side of the law.
“People are drinking at 18 so what's the point of having a law which is not anyway effective,” said Jha.
“You can vote, you can get married, then why can't you be allowed to drink,” said another resident of Delhi.
But that’s not all. The new excise rules also propose an hour’s extra drinking and allowing five star hotels to serve liquor round the clock.
Sociologist Dipankar Gupta says it is not a question of holding one's alcohol but rather the presence of strong legal deterrents which is the need of the hour.
“You can get drunk at any age. So the point is not about lowering it or keeping it for longer house but how we can exercise control on them,” said Gupta.
From the month of January to June this year, already 2300 people have been booked for drinking and driving.
Good cheer and high spirits aside, these figures of the traffic police are a sobering thought.
Meanwhile, the Delhi police in turn says enforcement cannot work alone unless a strong civic sense is inculcated among youth.
“With drinking there has to be a sense of responsibility. It is a sub-cultural issue as well,'' said PRO, Delhi Police, Deepandra Pathak.
So as Delhi prepares to pop the cork, perhaps some caution would not go amiss.
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