VIJAYAWADA: Crackdown on belt shops and hike in liquor prices has brought down the consumption of liquor in the State, officials informed Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy during a meeting in Tadepalli on Thursday to review the revenue-generating departments.
Officials told him that consumption of alcohol had come down from 384.31 lakh cases in 2018-19 to 278.5 lakh cases in 2021-22. The sale of beer, too, dropped from 277.10 lakh cases to 82.6 lakh cases. However, revenue during the same period shot up from Rs 20,128 crore to Rs 25,023 crore due to a steep hike in prices. A total of 20,127 cases related to manufacturing and trade of illicit liquor were registered As many as 16,027 people were arrested and 1,407 vehicles were seized.
Stating that people who were cultivating ganja on 2,500 acres have switched to other crops, the officials said measures were being taken to introduce horticulture on another 1,600 acres. Jagan directed the officials to check drug abuse in colleges and universities and ensure that numbers of Special Enforcement Bureau (SEB) are displayed at educational institutions.
The chief minister advised the officials to help those involved in ganja cultivation and brewing of illicit liquor to find alternative sources of employment. He also emphasised that ACB toll-free number ‘14400’ should be displayed at all government offices and added that sub-registrar offices should be revamped on the lines of passport offices.
Reviewing the mining department, Jagan urged the to ensure that mining operations are carried out after acquiring permissions and asked them to amicably settle disputes, if any, to avoid loss of revenue.
He also stressed the need for transparency in the sale of red sanders logs.
Responding, the officials told him that plans are underway to sell 2,640 metric tons of the precious wood between October and March. Deputy CM (Excise) K Narayanaswamy, Ministers Dharmana Prasada Rao (Revenue), Peddireddy Ramchandra Reddy (Mining) and P Viswarup (Transport), and Chief Secretary and DGP were present.