Hyderabad, September 28: The State Government is likely to announce a new toddy policy from October 1st. The new policy is aimed at helping nearly 3 lakh people associated with the toddy tappers and others associated with the profession.
The toddy tappers and the State Government are estimated to have lost over nearly Rs 100 crore due the general strike in the Telangana region. Therefore, in view of the changed situation, the State Government is likely to announce new policy which could help the people associated with the profession on immediate basis.
In the light of the state-wide demand and pressure mounting on the State Government for bringing the toddy profession under cooperative department, Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu recently assured them that their demand would be met if the TDP returns to power in 2014. The previous YSR government had earlier reduced 75 percent tax on toddy profession but their hopes were short-lived as YSR ignored their welfare.
The then Finance Minister K Rosaiah later appointed several ministers’ panels to review and study the issue of toddy tappers’ welfare for almost six years, but nothing emerged out of the committees’ meetings. Further, a GO 767 was issued in the name of their development but it was not implemented properly.
Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy also did not review subject which was resented by the toddy tappers. However, in a phased manner, he cancelled about 1400 toddy shops licenses.
In 2005-06, as many as 12,513 shops existed employing over 2.79 lakh toddy workers and indirectly over a lakh people depended on it. But due to the government’s ignorance, these numbers got reduced significantly in later years.
——Agencies