The state will reintroduce the previous liquor policy before 2019. The entire liquor retail business will be handed over to the private sector. 3,396 shops will be notified under the new liquor policy that will be introduced soon.
–Galla S Kiran Kumar, Bureau Chief
Total 3,396 shops Notify
Allotment of licenses through lottery
Cabinet sub-committee proposals
Final decision in cabinet today
56 thousand people with J brands in five years Kidney and liver problems
Cabinet sub-committee flag
CM Chandrababu speaking at the review meeting on Excise Policy. Ministers Manohar, Kollu Ravindra, Satyakumar and Officer Mukeshkumar Meena participated.
Today, Amaravati: The pre-2019 liquor policy will be reintroduced in the state. The entire liquor retail business will be handed over to the private sector. 3,396 shops will be notified under the new liquor policy that will be introduced soon. As promised in the election plan, 396 more shops (10 percent) will be notified for Geetha workers. Applications are invited for all these. Any person from any state of the country can apply for these by paying the prescribed fees. A lottery will be drawn from the applications received and licenses will be allotted. To finalize the new excise policy, the ministerial sub-committee consisting of Kollu Ravindra, Nadendla Manohar, Kondapalli Srinivas, Satyakumar Yadav and Gottipati Ravikumar met at the secretariat on Tuesday and prepared several proposals. Later, they all showed these proposals to the CM and suggested changes. These proposals will be put in the cabinet meeting to be held on Wednesday.
The new liquor policy will come into force on October 4 and 5
The Excise Act was amended during the Vaikapa regime, confining the authority to operate liquor retail shops to the government alone. As the coalition government intends to hand over the retail business to the private sector in the new liquor policy, the law needs to be amended. As there are no assembly meetings at present, the ordinance will be issued. It will be started after the approval in the cabinet meeting. This process will take at least 3-4 days to complete. Orders will be given finalizing the new liquor policy on 22nd and 23rd of this month. A notification will be issued inviting applications. Allow at least seven working days for receipt of applications. Licenses are allotted under the direction of Collectors. The new liquor policy is expected to be implemented by October 4 and 5. 396 shops will be specially notified for all the 6 castes that come under the Geethakarmika category. Applications are also invited from liquor shops located in tourist areas. New premium stores are also planned to be introduced.
Jagane is the biggest liquor syndicate
Members of the ministerial sub-committee said that 56,000 people have suffered from kidney and liver related problems in the last five years due to consumption of ‘J’ brands of alcohol brought during Jagan’s regime. It is said that this is the number of people admitted in government hospitals, and if admissions in private hospitals are taken into consideration, it will be many times higher. In the last five years, many people died after drinking inferior liquor brought by Jagan and said that one of the reasons for the increase in the number of widow pensions. He spoke to reporters on Tuesday evening at the Secretariat after the Cabinet Sub-Committee meeting on the new liquor policy. It has been announced that a new liquor policy will be introduced to ensure that quality brands are available at affordable prices to prevent such atrocities that happened in the previous government. It was explained that proposals have been made to allocate some funds for de-addiction, setting up counseling centers and providing medical services. ‘In the last five years, Jagane led the largest syndicate in the state. By introducing a chaotic and illegal liquor policy, he pocketed Rs. 19 thousand crores due to the government treasury. The illegal liquor policy introduced by Jagan has increased the consumption of cannabis and drugs in the state. According to NCRB statistics, by 2022, the number of suicides of alcohol addicts has increased by 100 percent in the state compared to 2018. All these are Jagan’s murders,’ the ministers declared.
