‘Alcohol Lovers Association’ calls on Bommai’s govt. with demands to provide “insurance, kids’ quota” for members

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The Alcohol Lovers Association, a newly formed group in Karnataka, India, has made a list of demands to the state government, including insurance for each bottle of alcohol and reservations for their children in schools. The association claims that alcohol lovers contribute 30% to the government’s income and have been ignored for too long.

At a press conference in Haasan, a representative of the group stated, “We (alcohol lovers) contribute 30% to the government’s income and we are being ignored for a longer time. Hence, we listed out a few demands to the government that will benefit our families and us.”

One member of the association demanded that each bottle of alcohol should be insured for INR 100,000 in case of the death of a consumer. They also called for the creation of a special corporation for alcoholics in the state and for the government to provide 100,000 houses per year to alcoholics. The group also requested that the government cover the cost of liver treatment, including liver surgery, and that regular health checkups be conducted at the taluk level.

In addition to these demands, the Alcohol Lovers Association has also called for reservations for their children in schools. “Our children are likely to be raised with disturbances due to our habits, hence 10 per cent seats in government hostels must be reserved for them in the state. This will help the children to study without any disturbances,” said a member of the group.

The demands of the Alcohol Lovers Association come at a time when the BJP-led government in Karnataka is already facing tension over its promise to provide reservations in education and government jobs to the Panchamasalis, a sub-sect of the dominant Veerashaiva Lingayat community. While BJP MLA Basangouda Patil Yatnal, who is leading the reservation agitation for the community, has stated that the government will accept the demands by December 29, sources claim that such an announcement is unlikely due to various “technical challenges”.