National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) National Secretary Varun Choudhary wrote to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday, June 11 asking the later to lower “the legal age for drinking alcohol in the NCT of Delhi”.
“You as the CM talk about (the) development of the State and taking the State at par with various developed countries/cities, however, such regressive laws wherein people below the age of 25 are not allowed to drink alcohol, is inherently flawed,” Choudhary wrote in his letter to the Chief Minister. He added, “When people at that age are permitted to choose their spouse, democratic representative, to drive etc., there is no reason that they should be disallowed from enjoying the basic human right that has been recognized in this land since ancient Vedic times, ie. the right to be inebriated within the limits of public order and decency.”
“Not just the developing nations that we are competing but most of the States within the country have gone away with this obsolete law and have lowered the age to either 21 years or 18 years,” NSUI’ National Secretary reasoned.
Right to vote from the age of 18, marry at 18 or 21, drive vehicle at 18. But we aren’t considered mature enough to drink alcohol before the age of 25? Sheer hypocrisy! I request CM @ArvindKejriwal ji to consider my request to lower the minimum age of drinking alcohol in Delhi. pic.twitter.com/28oazKQbLr
— Varun Choudhary (@varunchoudhary2) June 11, 2019
“Oppressive liquor control regime of GNCTD has not only cost its exchequer billions of rupees but also thousands of lives, which could have been saved, had the liquor laws of the State lived up to the times.” According to Varun Choudhary, “it is for that reason alone that the youth of this city has found their energies un-channelized and disoriented, therefore, leading to incidents of violence etc.”
Concluding the letter, the former Secretary of DUSU, “In the interest of the peace and law & order and the finances of the coffers of the city as well as the growing aspirations of the professionally successful youth of Delhi, you are requested to consider my request in a human rights perspective”.
When Newsd asked what prompted him to ask for a change in the drinking age, Choudhary said, “recently a survey was conducted by Community Against Drunken Driving (CADD), it showed that over 88% of youth below 25 years of age consumes or purchases alcohol even though it is illegal.” “In Goa the drinking age is 18, in Uttar Pradesh it is 21, even in Rajasthan the age of drinking is 18,” the youth leader added.
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