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'KST' behind hike in liquor prices: Revanth
Condemning the price hike of liquor in the State, Congress MP from Malkajgiri A Revanth Reddy on Tuesday alleged that in the form of Kalvakuntla Sales Tax (KST) people are being looted in a big way. He demanded CBI inquiry into the increase in prices of liquor.
Hyderabad: Condemning the price hike of liquor in the State, Congress MP from Malkajgiri A Revanth Reddy on Tuesday alleged that in the form of Kalvakuntla Sales Tax (KST) people are being looted in a big way. He demanded CBI inquiry into the increase in prices of liquor.
In an open letter to the people, he said that the KST angle was there behind the price hike of liquor in the State.
He alleged that the Excise and Prohibition department has become Excise Promotional Wing. Women are of the view that the leader of the State has become the brand ambassador for the liquor sale.
The MP said that it was found that liquor was the reason behind the spurt in the atrocities on women. On the other hand, the government has been encouraging sale of the same by allowing wine shops everywhere in the State.
He said that with the price hike the revenue through the liquor would go up by Rs 2,500 crore. In 2014-15 the revenue earned through the liquor sale was Rs 10,500 crore.
As the government mop up the revenue by Rs 2,500 crore every year, the total revenue has reached to Rs 22,000 crore in this financial year.
With the rise of the prices of liquor the total revenue would reach Rs 26,000 crore per annum. The revenue through the liquor sales in Uttar Pradesh which has about 22 crore population was Rs 23,000 crore.
He alleged that the 'KST' was introduced in the State much before the implementation of GST in the country. The income through the KST would reach directly to the family of Chief Minister K Chandrasekhara Rao.
"Even in terms of percentage, the Chief Minister is following his lucky number as the percentage he collects through the KST is 6 per cent," Revanth ridiculed.
He said that for any work 6 per cent has to be paid to the Chief Minister. The KST is behind the rise of liquor prices. The sale price of the liquor is 500 to 600 per cent more than the production cost.
While lottery system has been banned in the State, the allocation of liquor shops is being done through the same system.
The government is collecting Rs 2 lakh per application whether the applicant gets the shop or not and it fetches Rs 900 crore to the government. This is nothing but a crime.
Revanth said that the chief of Telangana Rashtra Samithi has collected Rs 10,000 from each aspirant of the ticket.
However, those did not get ticket were not paid back the application fee. Some have gone to court and the court directed Chandrashekar Rao to pay it back.
He said that each wine shop owner has to pay Rs 5 lakh for quarter and this shows how desperate the government is for the revenue collection. The government is not considering the ill effects of rampant sale of liquor.
The Disha and Samatha incidents have taken place due to the rampant sale of liquor. The liquor business was in the hands of a mafia. A MP of the ruling party was behind the increase of liquor prices.
