Breaking his silence over the request from Bihar counterpart Nitish Kumar to declare UP as a dry state, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav said that prohibition was not possible at such a short notice but asked tipplers to go slow.
"It is not so easy to ban liquor in the state immediately as it is linked with farmers. Molasses used for making liquor is produced as a by-product of sugarcane. If we ban liquor at one go it will affect the farmers too," he told reporters after inaugurating several development projects in Bhadohi on Wednesday.
"This trade gives employment to thousands of people. The state government cannot take a decision at one go. We have to think at pros and cons before taking the plunge," the CM said.
Yadav said: "Though it is not possible to ban the sale of liquor at such a short notice, I can always ask tipplers to go slow and drink less."
Nitish Kumar was building pressure on Akhilesh Yadav to declare UP, a dry state. After a total prohibition was imposed in Bihar from April 1, there have been reports of tipplers crossing over to UP for their drinking binge. The state government records also corroborate this as sale of IMFl liquor has witnessed a four times increase in districts bordering Bihar.
In his last two visits to the state, the Bihar CM had asked the SP government to impose complete ban on liquor. In his rally near Bihar he had said that if Bihar can do it, why is UP shying away.
However in UP, excise is a big revenue churner. last year, the state government had earned Rs 19807 crore from sale of IMFl (India Made Foreign liquor) and country liquor. This fiscal (2016-17) the target has been Rs 20,114 crore.
Chief Minister, who also holds Excise Department, has asked officials to meet the target at any cost. In March last year, he had suspended four top Excise department officials for failing to meet the target.
Meanwhile in Bhadohi, the CM inaugurated and dedicated several development projects to the people. He inaugurated the four-lane Bhadohi - Babatpur Road and also laid the foundation stones for construction of PHCs and schools.
He also distributed cycles, laptops, Samajwadi Pension and tri--cycles to physically challenged person in the function.
Addressing a rally, the CM said that the BSP regime has ruined the state as the then CM had used government funds to build parks and memorials. "Bua ji’s (read Mayawati) government only constructed elephants which are of no use for the people or the state. It was a total waste of public money," he said.
Yadav also attacked the Centre for not cooperating with the state government saying that UP sent 73 MPs from NDA quota, but the Union government is not giving allotted quota of power to to the state. "These
MPs should pressure the Union government to release more power for UP," he said.
Just after the CM's function, a storm lashed the area but no damages were reported. last night too, a strong storm blew away the pandal but it was reconstructed within hours.