Congress leaders meet Governor seeking control on free flow of liquor

Hyderabad: A delegation of Congress leaders on Saturday called on Governor Dr. Tamilisai Soundararajan seeking her intervention to make Telangana Government take corrective and remedial measures to control the free flow/sale of liquor in belt shops, permit rooms and shops on highways.

The delegation comprised of CLP leader Mall Bhatti Vikramarka, TPCC Working Presidents A. Revanth Reddy and Kusum Kumar, MLAs D. Sridhar Babu and Jagga Reddy, former leader of opposition in Legislative Council Mohammed Ali Shabbir, Mahila Congress president Nerella Sharada, Youth Congress president Anil Kumar Yadav, Hyderabad City Congress president M. Anjan Kumar Yadav and others.

The Congress leaders, in their representation, alleged that the brutal rape and murder of Disha, Lakshmi's murder in Asifabad, Manasa of Warangal, Hajipur incident, and an incident where 9 month-old-baby was raped and murdered by a serial killer, have shattered the whole nation and brought shame on Telangana. They said these incidents reflect administration lapses happening in the state for the last six years. The crime rate has increased over the past 6 years, they alleged.

"The Police administration in this state has failed in controlling Law & Order. Apart from indifferent and uncalled attitude reflected in the Disha's case when their parents approached the police, we also would like to bring to your kind notice the police action for the past six years is totally biased and only catering to the services of TRS functionaries rather than to provide service and justice to the people," the Congress leaders said.

The Congress leaders said many crimes were committed because of the State adopting many lopsided policies which were only focused on revenue generation rather than overall development of the State. They said the unabated sale of liquor was the root cause of these crimes in the state. "The State Legislature has passed New Excise Policy, wherein the government has decreased the population from 50,000 to 5,000 people for each liquor shop and thereby number of liquor shops were increased drastically in the state and also the liquor consuming has also increased," they said.

They pointed out that the revenue from the sale of liquor has increased from Rs. 11,942 crore in 2015 to Rs. 20,005 crore in 2018.

"Apart from this, the State Government is encouraging the permit rooms attached to each and every liquor shop and in these permit rooms, the liquor is being consumed right from the morning to late in the night. A large number of liquor shops in the State are in the residential areas and on the main roads and even on the high ways which are against the Supreme Court's directions. Due to increase in the sale of the liquor in the state mainly women are facing a lot of problems and are frightened to go out of their houses as the permit rooms provided are attached to the liquor shops. In addition, there are several Belt shops in every street which are being run in the state thereby the liquor is being sold unchecked on the highways and in every nook and corner in the state. Thus, the State Government and its regulatory and controlling mechanisms to control the sale of liquor is put to dark only to concentrate on the revenue generated from the Excise Department," the Congress leaders said.

The Congress leaders said that the influence of liquor on the young generation would cost the nation in the future. "Here in our state, the young generation is affected by the huge consumption of alcohol which is available freely and everywhere, thus endangering the productivity of the state human resource. Heavy consumption of alcohol is affecting the health of the people, especially the poor, middle-class people and the women are the main sufferers in this system," they said.

Therefore, they urged the Governor to intervene to stop free flow/sale of liquor in Telangana State.