Pawar was speaking at a conference here on grapes organised by the Maharashtra Rajya Draksha Bagaitdar Sangh (MRDBS), an umbrella body of grape farmers, while also raising concern over farmer suicides in the state and said people need to come together to think and prevent it.

The previous Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in the state, of which the NCP was a constituent, had in January this year allowed the sale of wine in supermarkets and walk-in stores across the state. A minister had then said the decision was taken to give a boost to fruit-based wineries which provide additional income to farmers.

Later, a social worker filed a public interest litigation in the Bombay High Court to challenge the decision, saying it would defeat the aim and objective of de-glamourising alcohol consumption and facilitate a person to buy alcohol on his own without any supervision.

Also Read : Blog: Dogmatic Opposition to Wine Sales in Supermarkets in Maharashtra

Pawar said, “The previous government took a good decision to sell wine in supermarkets which may have proved beneficial to fruit-based wineries, but for some reasons it wasn’t implemented.” He said more than 35,000 farmers are part of the MRDBS.

“Thus, grape farming is now not limited to some particular areas of the state. Eight per cent of the grapes produced in India are exported, while 92 per cent of the produce is sold in the country’s markets. It is now important to pay attention to local markets. It will strengthen the markets, resulting in a higher financial turnover,” he said, according to a Report in The Print.

Rallying behind the decision taken by the previous government, Pawar said, “The previous government took a good decision to sell wine in supermarkets which may have proved beneficial to fruit-based wineries, but for some reasons it wasn’t implemented.” He said more than 35,000 farmers are part of the MRDBS. The farmers producing grapes and other fruits for making wine would have directly benefited from the increase in wine sales.

Also Read : Blog: Hot Debate in Maharashtra on Wine not being Liquor

“Grape farming is not limited to some particular areas of the state now. Eight per cent of the grapes produced in India are exported, while 92 per cent of the produce is sold in the country’s markets. It is now important to pay attention to local markets. It will strengthen the markets, resulting in a higher financial turnover,” he said, adding he would hold talks with the state and central governments on how to promote the grapes market.

The MVA government had collapsed in June this year after a group of Shiv Sena legislators rebelled against the party leadership and joined hands with BJP for form a fresh government which has not supported the policy recommended by the previous government.

As reported in delWine The Maharashtra Cabinet decision to allow sale of wines through

Supermarkets with a minimum area of 100 sq. mtrs., might have been a progressive decision for the farmers and small wineries but the indiscriminate and inaccurate reporting by mainstream media sensationalising the issue resulted in strong opposition with the activist Anna Hazare threatening to go on hunger strike which he suspended later with satisfactory assurances from the government. The liberalisation policy was put to referendum which could not perhaps be completed before there was a change in the government which has not shown the requisite empathy towards the  or the consumers so far; the policy is lying in limbo and is infructuous for the moment.

Also Read : Maharashtra allows wine sale in Grocery Stores and Supermarkets

Subhash Arora

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