NCP (SP) leader Jitendra Awhad claimed the BJP-led Mahayuti government is planning to issue licences for 328 new liquor shops across the state to "cope with the financial burden of schemes like Ladki Bahin Yojana (under which women are given monthly aid of Rs 1500 under certain conditions)"
Maharashtra NCP (SP) leader Jitendra Awhad. File Pic.
The Sharad Pawar-led Nationalis Congress Party NCP (SP) leader Jitendra Awhad on Sunday slammed the Maharashtra government's liquor policy, alleging it would drive the state, which he described as a "land of saints," into alcoholism and cause distress to lakhs of families, reported news agency PTI.
Addressing a press conference, Jitendra Awhad claimed the BJP-led Mahayuti government is planning to issue licences for 328 new liquor shops across the state to "cope with the financial burden of schemes like Ladki Bahin Yojana (under which women are given monthly aid of Rs 1500 under certain conditions)."
"This liquor-driven policy to fill an empty treasury is a betrayal of families. To pay the Ladki Bahin (beloved sister), this government will cheat brothers, husbands, and fathers. The Devendra Fadnavis government will go down in history for selling alcohol licences instead of preserving public health," he asserted.
Moreover, the MLA from the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (SP) claimed that the state of saints like Dnyaneshwar, Tukaram, Tukadoji Maharaj, and Gadge Baba is being reduced to a "marketplace of wine and whisky."
"Today, licences that were cancelled 50 years ago are being sold at Rs 1 crore, when the same are worth Rs 15 crore. I have a list of 47 directors of firms who are making the rounds of Mantralaya (for these licences). These are the people benefiting from this corrupt system," he alleged, according to PTI.
He further continued lashing the government, stating that "This government does not care if water is available in every household but there must be full supply of alcohol."
"If this is their vision and model of governance, then sell Gateway of India as well for money. When the state government tried something similar in 1974, stalwarts like Mrinaltai Gorhe, Ahilyabai Rangnekar, and Madhu Dandavate led an uprising that forced a rollback. Fifty years later, this government is testing the same fire again," Awhad warned.
Moreover, he urged citizens of the state, especially women, to come out onto the streets to oppose the state government's liquor policy. He further cited the alleged sale of liquor in prohibited areas in the Yeoor stretch of Sanjay Gandhi National Park, adding that excise officials were "hand in glove" in this racket.
Incidentally, on 8th July, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who holds the finance and state excise portfolios, had informed the assembly that no new liquor licences have been granted in the state since 1972, although transfers of existing licences from one location to another are permitted following due procedure, according to PTI.
He also told the assembly that there was no legal provision under existing rules that allowed municipal corporations to pass resolutions revoking liquor licences within their jurisdiction.
Additionally, Pawar was responding to a calling attention notice given by Panvel BJP MLA Prashant Thakur regarding the cancellation of liquor licences in Kharghar and declaring it an alcohol-free zone.
(With inputs from PTI)
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