Dr Ramadoss latest to whine about wine

NEW DELHI: After Karnataka chief minister B S Yeddyurappa and his Rajasthan counterpart Ashok Gehlot, it was the turn of Union health minister Anbumani Ramadoss to take up cudgels on behalf of those fighting against the pub culture.

The PMK leader, who has already incurred the wrath of a section of the society for his attempts to clamp down cigarette smoking, on Friday flagged another controversy by asserting that the pub culture was against Indian ethos and contended that the proposed National Alcohol Policy would help curb it.

���We definitely condemn the incident in which women were attacked, but the pub culture must stop. It is because of this that youth in the country have taken to drinking in a big way,��� Mr Ramadoss said while addressing a press conference here on Friday.

Linking youngsters visiting pubs to increased rates of accidents due to drunken driving, Union health minister said, ``in India, 40 per cent of road accidents are alcohol-related. These young people not only jeopardise their lives but are also a threat to others on the roads.������

���It is not our culture. If it goes this way I don���t think India will progress,������ the union health minister said, adding, ���most of the people losing their lives due to such road accidents and alcoholism were in their early twenties, which are the most productive years of their lives.������

Unfortunately, over the recent years, there has been a huge percentage of people taking to alcohol. There is also a study which says that in the last five to six years there is an increase of 60 per cent among the youth who have taken to drinking, Mr Ramadoss argued.