Are both UPI and alcohol life-threatening? India is witnessing the heat of the Lok Sabha elections 2024. At the same time this question has arisen.
Is UPI life-threatening ?
Financial transactions through the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) developed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) in short became quite accessible.
All transactions of the bank from the vegetable market are now possible through UPI. As a result, there was no need to go and stand in front of banks, ATMs to withdraw money or send it to someone else.
Not only this but paying electricity bill from recharging the mobile in hand, life insurance, health insurance, vehicle insurance, paying its premium.
Also, everything from taking loans, investing in the stock market, mutual funds is possible through this UPI.
Review on availability and facilities delivery of UPI
The survey was conducted on how UPI is impacting spending at the individual level among Indian users.
The survey, which covers 235 people from different walks of life, asked them several questions. The survey found that 75 per cent of people believed that their spending had increased because of UPI.
Only 7 per cent indicated a reduction in costs.
Significantly, 91.5 per cent of the people in this survey expressed satisfaction in the use of UPI. As many as 95.2 per cent of users replied that making it convenient to pay through UPI.
Notably, the volume of digital transactions or cashless transactions around the world has increased at an unprecedented rate over the years. Digital transactions reached 195 million in 2023.
64 per cent of the global population is involved in digital payments transactions.
India is now far ahead in terms of digital transactions
As of August 2023 a total of 484 banks have been affiliated to the UPI. This has made 10 billion transactions possible by 2023. The transaction total amounted to Rs 18,22,949.42 crore (USD 189 billion).
The total digital transactions in India in 2022 accounted for 84 per cent i.e. $1.79 trillion was paid through UPI. In contrast to such success of UPI these have also changed the user spending habits.
These aspects have been revealed in this survey of students from IIT Delhi. Of the people they covered, 51.6 per cent were students.
Besides, 42 per cent are employees, 4.7 per cent are businessmen. By gender, 77 per cent of these are male, 19.7 per cent female and 3.3 per cent are reluctant to express gender.
The survey revealed that 12 per cent of people have started using UPI after demonetisation in 2016.
7.60 per cent people started using UPI after 2017, 13.60 per cent in 2018, 15.60 per cent in 2019, 16 per cent in 2020, 16 per cent in 2021 in 2022 and 2.40 per cent in 2023.
The survey found that 74.2 per cent of the people had increased costs due to the use of UPI. According to 7 per cent their expenditure has been reduced by UPI.
According to 18.8 per cent, there is no impact on UPI on their expenditure or budget again.
55 per cent people are quite satisfied with the use of UPI and 36.5 per cent are satisfied. As many as 7.7 per cent people did not comment on the matter.
So this survey proves one thing that 91.5 per cent of the people are satisfied using UPI.
These users transact between Rs 50 and Rs 1 lakh per day through UPI. 15.7 per cent spend Rs 200 per day through UPI.
81.1 per cent people use UPI daily. 15.6 per cent people use UPI once a week. 1.1 per cent people use UPI only once a month.
According to the survey 59.8 per cent people admitted to spending too much by exceeding their budget due to the use of UPI. While 39.8 per cent people believe they have not done so.
According to this survey, it is also clear that many people follow different methods to maintain their budget.
What were the facts revealed in the survey conducted regarding UPI ?
Such applications include splitwise. Paytm, SBI Yono, Samsung Notes, My Money, Honeybook, Monefi, Pehek, Money Manager etc.
In any case, an important aspect that this survey has uncovered is that the use of UPI in people’s daily lives has contributed significantly to excessive spending while finding it difficult to maintain the budget.
Although a majority of UPI users have succeeded in maintaining the budget, a large number of users are indifferent in this regard.
The survey also shows a scenario of digital transactions in India, making it clear that till 2024, leading UPI applications like Google Pay, Phone Pay, Paytm, etc. are dominating India.
It is through these that people have been doing all kinds of financial transactions from daily shopping.
Just as UPI became an unavoidable part of India after demonetisation, people using UPI also got used to cashless transactions. Going to an ATM or a bank and leaving behind the queuing up work.
Especially for UPI, the aspect of people ignoring the savings system has been exposed.
Assam government is worried about why liquor sales are low
One day, he called the high-ranking officer in charge of the excise department. Why is the revenue collected from the sale of liquor so low? He also gave verbal instructions that it should be increased.
Who dares to disobey the king’s orders? He issued necessary instructions to the lower officials. Sale of liquor has to be increased, revenue has to be increased. Such orders are issued by the end of the year. But this time it’s different.
An order was issued to some districts of the state that the excise officials of the districts raised their eyebrows when they saw the order.
Knowing that the sale of liquor worth so much money was not possible, the inspectors of the excise department called up the owner of the liquor shop.
That’s how it was given in Targue. Sales of liquor declined in April 2024 as compared to 2023. That’s the debt-ridden government.
Only if a shop sells at least one and a half litres of liquor a day will be able to meet the target of the owner of that outlet.
How will the government repay the debt with the money sold to sell liquor?
According to him a quarter customer bought it in 2023 for Rs 115. On June 1 that year, it increased its price to Rs 130. Then, more recently, the price of that quarter bottle was Rs. 160.
Generally, labourers, pushcarts, rickshaw-pullers, etc., usually consume alcohol on a regular basis. After the price rise, their calculations have not been adjusted. That’s why apart from the spurious liquor, they are indulging in domestic stoves or other addictions.
This is not the only reason for the decline in sales. But this is also one of the reasons. The more it is thinking of collecting revenue by increasing the prices, the more concerned about the decline in sales, the government is worried about how to increase the sale of liquor.
This liquor baron expressed dissatisfaction over the recent target and said sales have gone down in our shops by 30 to 40 per cent.
But the calculation of how much alcohol we have to sell to meet the new target that is being given now even if orally is not very easy.
According to the trader, a flower liquor bottle contains 750 ml litres. In a case such flowers contain 12 bottles i.e. 9 litres.
On that count now you calculate how many flower bottles I have to sell to sell 150 litres of alcohol daily.
Similarly a cash liquor contains 18 half bottles. That one cash half bottle amounts to 9 litres. How many half liquor bottles will be sold to meet my target? It is never possible to sell so many bottles of liquor in a day in a place like ours.
In the case of beer or quarters too, the amount is much higher if you look at this figure. But the government seems to make people drink alcohol and will only give up drinking. Now the government needs nothing but money.
The excise department is the government’s gold egg duck. If you feel like, the price can go up, there is no one to protest.
Only the government knows what the government will argue regarding the order to increase the sale of liquor by increasing the prices to prevent alcoholics.
Assam is full of illicit liquor from neighbouring Arunachal, Nagaland and neighbouring Bhutan.
It is through Assam that the smuggling of illegal liquor goes to different parts of the country. In that direction the government cannot claim any success other than failure.
From time to time, the responsibility ends with the arrest of two cars, two liquor smugglers. The liquor emperors are running this business by taking the powerful in their hands and pushing the upcoming generation to the brink of destruction.
Government’s policies are detrimental to society
The state has already been flooded with liquor shops. The licence of the liquor shop has been given afresh. The renovation price of liquor vends has been increased.
A liquor shop in an urban area has to pay a renewal price of Rs 4 lakh instead of rs 2 lakh earlier. In rural areas, that price has been increased from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 2 lakh.
More than 30 liquor vends in the heart of Guwahati have not been able to pay the renewal fee. As of May 2023, there were 2,489 liquor shops in the state in Assam, according to data tabled in the Assam Assembly.
Even after that, the government has given a new licence for liquor vends from district to district.
5 in Bajali, 6 in Bongaigaon, 4 in Cachar, 6 in Chirang, 9 in Darrang, 8 in Dhemaji, 9 in Dhubri, 1 in Golaghat, 1 in Dima Hasao, 3 in Dibrugarh.
2 in Hailakandi, 3 in Hojai, 3 in Jorhat, 4 in Kamrup (Rural), 29 in Kamrup (City), 15 in Karbi Anglong, 11 in Kokrajhar, 19 in Lakhimpur,
Two liquor shops in Morigaon, five in Nagaon, four in Sivasagar, 12 in Sonitpur, 11 in Tinsukia, four in Udalguri, two in West Karbi Anglong decided to issue fresh licences a few days ago.
The main aim of doing this is to make the people of the state addicted to alcohol. Make available alcohol every step of the way. Otherwise, does a public welfare government plan to run the state with the tax money derived from the sale of liquor?
Shortage of milk in the state. But there is no shortage of alcohol. That facility has been given by the government. The government is moving ahead with the aim of creating alcoholics through the liquor revolution.
It seems that the owners of liquor shops are selling liquor bottles along with people on the way to support the government’s goal.
Anti-people policies of the welfare government?
The government, which is involved in a conspiracy to kill the Assamese people linguistically, economically and culturally, is now planning to completely end the nation by ‘addicted’.
Just as kani addicted made people cry during the British rule, the government has made no mistake in trying to make the nation mad by the free circulation of liquor in Assam.
The misfortune of the Assamese people does not end here. It is this government elected by the people that has closed more than a thousand educational institutions and has now allowed the opening of new liquor shops.
Following the decision of the state government led by Chief Minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma, the education department has closed down 1710 schools through the merger process in the last period. But the same government is now set to license 203 new liquor shops.
The Assam government, which has been critical of Delhi’s liquor policy, has gone down to patronising the free circulation of liquor in Assam. The government is reminded of alcohol whenever there is a need for revenue.
The state government, which has distributed money like water in the state with beneficiary schemes, has, however, not taken any productive scheme so far to increase household revenue.
On the contrary, the imposition of new taxes one after the other on the public, in parallel with the increase in every existing tax rate, has often focused only on increasing the price of alcohol.
The situation has reached such a stage that the economy of the state is now dependent on ‘addicted’. If ‘addicted’ doesn’t drink alcohol, the state’s economy will collapse.
According to data submitted in the Assembly, the state government has generated revenue from liquor to the tune of Rs 1,673.87 crore till February of the financial year 2021-22.
This revenue increased to Rs 2201.94 crore in the financial year 2022-23. Minister Pijush Hazarika disclosed this information on behalf of Excise Minister Parimal Suklabaidya in the Assam Assembly.
He also said that the state government does not plan to grant any fresh liquor licence.
The work of a welfare government is to bring about the welfare of the people. It can never be possible to leave the public to end up with sesame seeds.
Alcohol can never be the only way to generate revenue. There are many states in this country where alcohol is not in circulation. These states are generating revenue even without liquor.
Bihar, Gujarat, Mizoram, Nagaland and Lakshadweep have been declared dry states. In these states, there is no liquor even if you want to. Yet these states are generating revenues. The government is on.
If even 50 per cent of the importance of the beneficiary schemes of the Assam government is given importance to the productive scheme, then today there is no situation where the state has to run the state by relying on alcohol.
The government is reminded of the Madahis whenever there is a need for more revenue. The price of liquor has increased. The economy of the state now depends on this madahi. What could be more unfortunate than this?
Starting the day’s work with the words of the Gita in the morning, talking about Hindutva, writing books with theoretical articles, during the rule of Chief Minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma, who had to run the state by relying on alcohol in this way, is against his personality.
Amalgamation of schools in assam
Through the Amalgamation process of the Education Department, 62 in Barpeta district, 68 in Bongaigaon, 129 in Cachar, 64 in Darrang, 56 in Dhubri, 60 in Dibrugarh, 45 in 89 Golaghat in Goalpara, 59 in Hailakandi,
182 schools in Jorhat and 94 upper and upper primary schools in Kamrup Metropolitan district, 50 in Tinsukia, 105 in Sonitpur, 136 in Sivasagar district, 134 in Nalbari,
90 schools in Nagaon district, 148 in Morigaon and 49 in Karimganj have been closed.
But by May 2023, there were 2,489 liquor shops. Of these, 1708 are bilati liquor shops and 781 country liquor shops.
Until the BJP came to power in 2016, There were 1,116 bilati liquor shops in Assam, 473 bilati bars, 5 warehouses and 195 country liquor outlets. Government busy closing schools and opening liquor vends