Distribution of liquor to the party cadres to boost their spirit and energy for campaigning and to the common people to buy their votes by major political parties during election time is very common. But the range of consumption of liquor was so high during the last general elections in the State that it is unimaginable by any sensible person.
From the information provided by the Excise Department while complying with a RTI application filed by rights activist Pradip Pradhan, it was found that production and sale of liquor and its consumption increased manifold during January to May 2014.
The Government received a total of `988.8 crore (excise) of revenue between January and May this year. While, according to the RTI report, the production of country spirit for the period from January to May 2014 was 1,271 truckloads (one truck =1000 cases= 5000 Bl), that of out-stilled liquor for the same period amounted to 1,16,30,865 lPl. However, the Excise Department did not provide information about the sale and revenue collection in previous years.