Dismissing claims that the number of liquor shops have increased in the Capital under the AAP Government, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said on Tuesday that while his Government does not want a single penny earned from the sale of liquor, a ban on liquor is not practical unless it is banned across the nation.
Meanwhile, Delhi Assembly passed a Bill which aims to do away with luxury tax on hotels having rent up to Rs 1,500. As per the Delhi Tax on luxuries Act (1996), any person who stays in a hotel room whose tariff is Rs 750 per day or above, has to pay luxury tax.
Sisodia said, “People look for cheap hotels when they come to tour the Capital. If one buys a room for Rs 1000, he has to pay a luxury tax of Rs 150. Once we do away with this tax, it will help the aam aadmi. This will also enhance tourism in Delhi as rooms will be available at more pocket-friendly rates.”
Earlier in the day, the liquor issue dominated the first half of the proceedings on the second day of Delhi Assembly on Tuesday with Sisodia also hitting out indirectly at Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan-led Swaraj Abhiyan which has attacked the AAP Government’s liquor policy in its first major intervention in the Delhi politics.
Claiming that only six retail vends (l6) have come up in the city and number of other licensed establishments serving alcohol has actually gone down since the AAP assumed office, Sisodia said, “A section is deliberately misleading and trying to create a wrong perception. It is almost like we have turned into Ponty Chadha but no one is noticing how many Ponty Chadhas we have put out of business.”
He explained that the Delhi Government generated more revenue not by opening more liquor shops but by curbing the leakages in revenue generated from the sale of liquor.
leader of Opposition and BJP member Vijender Gupta, who staged a walkout with his party MlA Jagdish Pradhan before Sisodia’s speech, read out reports to drive home the point that the Government was encouraging “microbreweries and nightlife”.
Under the new excise policy announced by the AAP dispensation, no new liquor store, except in malls, will be allowed in Delhi in the current financial year. It has also empowered the mohalla sabhas to decide on whether to shut down the existing ones.
“The mohalla sabhas have not yet been notified and the Government says that these bodies have been empowered to take decisions in this regard. The government is misleading the people,” Gupta said.
Sisodia said the policy on microbreweries was not new. “Microbreweries exist in abundance in Gurgaon where you have the Government of ‘gaurakshaks’,” he said.
Referring to the prohibition models in states like Bihar, Sisodia said the AAP Government was not against bans but underlined the need for a thorough study before resorting to any such move.
“We don’t want to run Delhi using the revenue earned from liquor. We are not against any ban either but it has to be across the country. Right now our focus is on ensuring that the revenue earned is not siphoned like before,” he said.
Taking a stand against prohibition, AAP MlA Madanlal claimed that hundreds have lost lives in Bihar and Gujarat, which are dry States. “Moreover we don’t have police under our control so we should not go for ban in such a situation,” he said.