Telangana takes it easy on anti-alcohol campaigns

According to sources from the Prohibition and Excise Department, the government has put an end to the prohibition of duty-paid liquor.
For representational purposes (Express Illustrations)
For representational purposes (Express Illustrations)

HYDERABAD: For three consecutive years now, the State government has not allocated any funds to conduct prohibition campaigns for alcohol. Although it is a mandate of the Prohibition and Excise Department to “campaign against the evil effects of alcohol consumption,” it has stopped doing so. Andhra Pradesh, in comparison, has allocated Rs 3.75 crore for ‘Campaign on Adverse Effects of Consumption of Alcohol’ in the 2020-21 Budget alone.  

According to sources from the Prohibition and Excise Department, the government has put an end to the prohibition of duty-paid liquor. In the years after the formation of the State, it considered factors such as morality and the requests of women who would complain of their alcoholic husbands abusing them. “The government earlier allocated a nominal budget of just under Rs 1 crore to run campaigns on the adverse effects of consumption of duty-paid alcohol. But, gradually, it has stopped allocating any funds for the same. Now, after the problem of illicitly distilled (ID) liquor has come down to nearly zero, not even nominal funds are being allocated to create awareness on the evils of alcohol consumption,” said an official from the Excise Department.

A source said the Department, in the yesteryears, had spent a lot of money to control the illegal manufacture of country liquor in the State. The department has helped to plug leakage of the Excise revenue by booking cases against people involved in the sale and production of ID liquor and non-duty paid liquor with strict prohibition, the source said.The Excise revenues through the sale of Indian Manufactured Foreign Liquor (IMFL) have consistently formed the bulwark of government funds. Ironically, the State is expecting to make Rs 17,000 crore from the Excise revenues during the current financial year. 

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