The timing of licensed liquor shops and the target of revenue generation from these shops allocated to districts will neither resolve bootlegging nor prove to be in public interest. The State Government should reconsider its excise policy and also involve the Opposition in the process of finalising the said policy.
Stating this while addressing the media, the leader of Opposition in the Vidhan Sabha and Haldwani MlA Indira Hridayesh, also accused the State Government of trying to shield influential persons involved in the national highway 74 scam. She also questioned why the State Government was planning to approach the Supreme Court against the High Court order according living entity status to the Ganga river as is being reported.
Speaking at a Press conference, the leader of opposition said that there were some questionable aspects in the excise policy the State Government had come up with. She said, “The timing of licensed liquor shops in mountainous districts fixed from 12 PM to 6 PM is impractical and the smuggling of liquor currently on would continue unaffected because of such timing. Further, the revenue generation target given to each district magistrate would also not be in the larger public interest.
There is nothing on paper regarding the new excise policy yet but we are told that the Government has levied a two per cent cess on liquor price. The policy for revenue generation from liquor is not good as it will abet smuggling while also increasing the financial burden on women of the State. The women – many of whom are suffering due to anomalies in alcohol sale and consumption- have been protesting across the state. The State Government should reconsider its excise policy and also invite the opposition while finalising it.”
Speaking about Namami Gange mission, Hridayesh said that it crores of rupees had been allocated under the mission with the appreciable aim of cleaning the Ganga river. However, the State Government is reported to be preparing to approach the supreme court against the verdict of the Uttarakhand high court granting living entity status to the Ganga. The living entity status supports efforts under Namami Gange which makes the government’s plan to approach the supreme court questionable, she said. Referring to the alleged scam in widening of National Highway number 74, the Haldwani MlA said that the State Government had only suspended a few provincial civic services officers and other junior officials while the major players involved in the scam were being ignored. “The State Government appears to be protecting the big players in this scam. The chief minister had said that he had recommended the case for a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation but no action has been taken by the agency in the case so far,” she said. Referring the helicopter services to Kedarnath and other pilgrimage centres, she cited a recent report about a mishap involving a helicopter. Hridayesh questioned whether the State Government had fully examined the tenders of the helicopter service providers. She also questioned whether helicopters that posed risks to those travelling in them should be used to carry visitors to pilgrimage centres. lambasting the authorities for the law and order situation in the provisional state capital Dehradun, Hridayesh said that the Government should ensure law, order and public safety at least in the provincial State capital. The Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee chief spokesman Mathura Datt Joshi was also among those present on the occasion.