Oppn launches battle against belt shops

Left threaten to attack illegal liquor shops if they are not shut immediately BJP State president G Kishan Reddy said that the recently launched Cash Transfer Scheme would encourage people to consume liquor with the money they get through bank accounts Hyderabad: 'Vexed' over the government's indifference towards closing down the belt shops that are mushrooming in the State, on Tuesday while the Left parties threatened that they would launch attacks on unauthourised liquor outlets, the TDP, BJP, Lok Satta and AIMIM resolved to fight against the government till the shops were shut.

Participating in 'Madhya Niyanthrana Udyama Sadassu' organised by Jana Vignana Vedika, CPI State secretary K Narayana said that the sincerity of the government in controlling liquor business with the deletion of names of ministers and Congress MLAs, indulged in illegal liquor trade, was exposed in the recent ACB inquiry report on liquor syndicates. But, his party leader P Nageshwara Rao's name was mentioned in the report for taking Rs 50,000 as party fund from liquor dealers. It clearly showed how the government responded against liquor mafia. Demanding the government to take over liquor business on the lines Tamil Nadu, Kerala and New Delhi governments, he said that the total revenue generated from liquor trade was Rs 20,000 crore but the expenditure on welfare was only Rs 12,000 crore. He informed that his party would attack the belt shops if the demands were not met. Coming down heavily on the government for projecting wrong statistics on the sale of liquor, CPM party senior leader and AIDWA vice-president M Swarajyam said that women's organisations would launch an attack on belt shops if the government did not close them. TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu said that for every 70 families, one belt shop was established illegally, totalling to 3 lakh outlets in the State. With the increase of belt shops in villages, 30 per cent of the male community is addicted to liquor consumption. The astonishing fact was that liquor consumption per day was 39 lakh litres at a cost of Rs 80 crore, whereas milk consumption was 30.56 lakh litres at cost of Rs 9 crore per day in the State, he added. Stating that the implementation of total prohibition was impossible in the present circumstances, he demanded the government to include banning of belt shops in the new excise policy 2013-14 to be brought into force form July this year. Twenty Point programme chairman N Tulasi Reddy said that total prohibition would not be possible unless a policy was adopted at the national policy. BJP State president G Kishan Reddy said that the recently launched Cash Transfer Scheme would encourage people to consume liquor with the money they got through bank accounts.