The state apparatus moves in some often mysterious and inscrutable ways to crack down on what are preceived as undesirable or dangerous activities in society. Drunk driving is a huge menace in India, claiming thousands of lives. Alcoholism is a huge problem in the southern state of Kerala. A rather strange directive issued by the Kerala state government makes one wonder which of these social evils they are trying to combat with their recent directive.
There is a new directive from the road transport ministry of Kerala to cab drivers in the state: do not pick up drunk passengers or you will pay for it. The 2017 regulation speaks about prohibition of alcohol, drugs and smoking and about ensuring compliance of the same from “other crew, riders and passengers if any”.
The rationale behind this rule is difficult to understand. If the authorities thought that this would curb drinking itself, this is a naive and unrealistic assumption. What this does in effect do is, it prevents people from reaching home safely if they have been imbibing on a given day. This does not make roads safer; conversely it seems to encourage risky behavior.
It goes without saying that one should not drive at all if one has had a few drinks. People - such as those attending a party or celebrating something - therefore designate one person from the group to be the driver; that person would refrain from drinking that day. In the alternative people who choose to drink, call for a cab to take them home. This is responsible behavior. Unfortunately these options are barred by this notification; responsible behavior is sought to be blocked!
The regulation is not yet implemented. Officers who would be in charge of implementation currently suffer low staff strength. In the event, implementation of such a regulation would be a mammoth task. It seems a rather pointless regulation in any case.
Cab drivers stand to lose out on a significant revenue source if this regulation is implemented. Since it is they who would be held liable for carrying inebriated passengers they would have to decline to carry anyone appearing intoxicated. This would mean significant losses, especially for taxi drivers who choose to ply their vehicles late at night or during the early hours of the morning to earn a little extra.
How is it possible to judge if a person is actually intoxicated? By looking at them? Smelling them? A cab driver would obviously not be in a position to ask how much a person had been drinking, and how is a cabbie to judge how much is too much? Since this regulation is not yet implemented; one can only hope that this rather misguided piece of legislation is decided not to be implemented at all.
Do you have something interesting you would like to share? Write to us at [email protected]
