The Karnataka government on Wednesday re-imposed a ban on the sale and distribution of soft drinks within the premises of schools, colleges and hostels with immediate effect. A notification to this effect was issued by the state government on December 18.
The decision evoked a strong response from industry body, Indian Soft Drink Manufacturers Association (ISDMA). “The Indian soft drink industry is shocked at today’s development in Karnataka,” said a statement issued by the association.
Only two days before the current notification, the Karnataka government had withdrawn the previous ban imposed on soft drinks in August 2006.
Justifying the current ban, R Ashok, Karnataka’s health minister, said, “We have consulted the legal cell of the state government and decided to reimpose the ban as per the provisions under Article 162 of the Constitution. However, we cannot ban sale of soft drinks in hospitals and government offices under this Article.”
Now look at this by Tim Harford in Slate: My school used to offer two varieties of food. There was cafeteria food, which was inedible, and there were chocolate bars from the snack shop. For two years, I had four chocolate bars for lunch every day.
These days schools are trying to outlaw the unhealthy options, but some markets are irrepressible. William Guntrip is a 13-year-old boy whose central England school banished vending machines and snack-shop food in favor of nutritious offerings at the cafeteria. Guntrip spotted a market opportunity and has been buying soft drinks and candy and reselling them in his school playground. The school is trying to stop him and claims that most students are happy with the new regime, although if that was true then Guntrip wouldn't be making nearly $100 a day.
Suppressing a market is a bit like squeezing a balloon—the trade will usually pop up somewhere else. Let's remember, here it's the government which is imposing the ban.
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