The Catholic Churches in Kerala slammed the state’s liquor policy after the state government notified a Supreme Court order allowing licenses to every local body to open new liquor vends in the areas where the population is above 10,000. The Syro Malabar church is a key member of the Kerala Catholic Bishops Conference that has a very strong anti-liquor front.
As reported by business-standard.com, His Grace Bishop Mar Remigiose Inchananiyil of the Thamarssery Diocese remarked that “The sad part of this new liquor policy is the rich do not get affected, instead it’s the poor who do not know the ill-effects of liquor, who become victims of the free availability of liquor. This liquor policy is going to be even more dangerous, a (bigger) disaster than the Ockhi cyclone. We will strongly fight against this at Chengannur.”
In 2016, when the Oommen Chandy-led Congress government demitted office, there were two dozen bars that operated in five-star hotels. Around 700 bars in the three-star and four-star hotels were shut down.
