THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The government on Friday promulgated an ordinance amending the Kerala Municipalities Act and the Kerala Panchayat Raj Act, doing away with the condition liquor shops and Bevco outlets should be cleared by local bodies.
Governor P Sathasivam signed the ordinance on Thursday night, his office said. Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting had decided to issue an ordinance amending Section 447 of the Kerala Municipalities Act and Section 232 of the Kerala Panchayat Raj Act which deal with the “purpose for which places may not be used without licence.”
The government’s rationale was that it would enable uniform implementation of the Abkari Act across the state and end the discrimination between existing liquor licensees and new applicants.
‘Govt Cheated People’
In issuing the ordinance, the LDF Government has cheated the people, Archbishop M Soosa Pakiam, president, Kerala Catholic Bishops Council, said after leading a delegation of religious leaders and anti-liquor activists to meet the Governor and the Chief Minister.
The forum will stage an agitation outside the Kerala Assembly on June 8, when a special Assembly session is being held. “We see a situation wherein the government is planning to go ahead with its vested interests,’’ Soosa Pakiam later told reporters. In the morning, the delegation met the Governor, who had by then signed the ordinance.
The delegation met Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in the afternoon, who reportedly informed them that discussions would be held with the anti-liquor activists before the formulation of the liquor policy.
The delegation included Bishop Remigius Inchananiyil, Bishop Joshua Mar Ignatius, poet Sugathakumari and Santhigiri organising secretary Gururethnam Jnana Tapaswi.