The Maharashtra government is preparing a plan to set up a network of informers to curb the illegal liquor business. Informers will also be paid for giving accurate information.
Agencies have been given the task of studying the wines being produced in the state so that illegal liquor trade can be stopped. Annual revenue of about one thousand crore rupees is received from liquor business.
The issue of sale of illegal liquor in the state and loss of revenue due to it was raised by the opposition in the assembly, in response to which Maharashtra Excise Minister Shambhuraj Desai said that we have planned to set up a network of informers on the lines of the police. These informers will give information about illegal liquor business operating in the districts. The person who gives the information can get the reward money.
Along with increasing the number of check posts from 12 to 25 in the state, 12 new flying squads will be formed. Thus, it has been decided to increase the total number of flying squads to 57. 114 new posts have been approved in the Excise Department. Along with this, 176 vacant posts are also being filled.
Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Ajit Pawar, while asking a question during the Question Hour, suggested that the state’s excise department could form a network of informers to crack down on illegal liquor trade and a proposal to this effect was discussed when he was minister for the department. . He said that lakhs of rupees can be paid to these informers if needed, as the state government is losing tax worth crores of rupees due to illegal liquor business.
To this, Desai said that apart from setting up a network of informers, the government is also considering the option of making a district level officer accountable when a case of illegal liquor trade comes to light in an area.
Desai told that 2-3 agencies were asked to study for making wine in Gadchiroli district. Further action will be considered on the basis of the report.
Members of NCP, Ajit Pawar, Chhagan Bhujbal, Dhananjay Munde etc. had asked a question related to the liquor made in Goa being secretly sent to Gujarat via Maharashtra. In response, Minister Desai told that the Excise Department has caught liquor worth Rs 76 lakh in Navi Mumbai.
Significantly, there are about four dozen liquor factories in Nashik, Pune, Sangli, Ahmednagar, Solapur and Buldhana in Maharashtra, which produce 80 percent of India’s total liquor production. The liquor industry contributes about two-thirds of the state’s domestic revenue. Annual revenue of about one thousand crore rupees is received from liquor production.
