Hyderabad, April 15: Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) today appealed to Governor ESL Narasimhan to advise the State Government to take measures to regulate the sale of liquor and removal of belt shops.
In a memorandum submitted to the Governor, PRP chief K Chiranjeevi said that the State had achieved a dubious distinction of a great surge in the sale of arrack and lilquor. “For the last few years, the excise revenue has seen an increase by about Rs 1,500 crore each year. This financial year alone, the Government’s estimated revenue from excise is over Rs 12,000 crore.
As if this was not enough, the Government is also actively encouraging the sale of cheap liquor for more revenues.
The Government has increased prices of liquor and has also given permission to distilleries to increase the volume of their production,’’ Chiranjeevi lamented.
He alleged that the Government was fixing targets to the excise department and was prodding them to encourage liquor consumption.
The excise officials in turn were pressing the retail stores to increase the sales, Chiranjeevi alleged. Due to the mad rush to achieve targets all rules and guidelines were being flouted and liquor and arrack were being sold even in areas on highways and within the vicinity of schools, places of worship and hospitals, he alleged.
The prescribed timings to sell liquor were routinely violated and liquor was available across the State throughout the day, Chiranjeevi told the Governor.
–Agencies