CM meets revenue generating depts
Orders officials to show alternative source of employment for illicit liquor brewers and ganja cultivators
image for illustrative purpose
Vijayawada: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy on Thursday held a review meeting with revenue generating departments, including Excise, Mines and Panchayat Raj, at the camp office in Tadepalli.
The Chief Minister told the officials to ensure that ganja and other related substances should be out of bound for students and youth. 'Special Enforcement Bureau (SEB) numbers should be displayed in front of all colleges and universities. There should not be any reports of drug abuse. Moreover all the Collectors should coordinate,' he said.
The liquor consumption has come down due to steep hike of prices and shutting down of belt shops. Those who are into brewing of illicit liquor and cultivating ganja should be shown alternative source of employment and encourage self-employment, the Chief Minister added.
The officials informed the Chief Minister that consumption of alcohol has come down from 384.31 lakh cases in 2018-19 to 278.5 lakh cases in 2021-22. The sales of beer for the same period have come down from 277.10 lakh cases to 82.6 lakh cases. The revenue has gone up from Rs 20,128 crore to Rs 25,023 crore for the same period due to steep hike in prices.
In all 20,127 cases were registered, 16,027 were arrested and 1407 vehicles were seized in cases of illicit liquor. In 2500 acres people shifted to other crops while steps are being taken for horticulture in another 1600 acres, the officials said.
The Chief Minister said that ACB toll free number 14,400 should be displayed in all government offices. These boards should be on display from village secretariat to Collector's Office, from police station to SP Office and at public distribution system (PDS) shops as well, he instructed the officials.
The CM also informed the need for sub-registrar offices to be revamped along with the passport offices. Taking district as a unit, the Collectors should ensure that mining operations are carried out after acquiring the necessary permissions and amicably settle if there are any disputes so that there is no loss of revenue, he said.
There should be transparency in the sale of red sanders, he said for which the officials revealed that plans are afoot for sale of 2640 metric tons between October and March Deputy Chief Minister K Narayanaswamy, Ministers Dharmana Prasada Rao, Peddireddy Ramchandra Reddy, P Viswaroop, Chief Secretary Sameer Sharma, DGP KV Ravindernath Reddy and others were present.
