Govt monopolising liquor trade: Cong

Tuesday, 22/03/2016

http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/punjab/community/govt-monopolising-liquor-trade-cong/212072.html

Chandigarh : The Punjab government’s Excise Policy was discussed threadbare in the Vidhan Sabha here today, with the Opposition Congress accusing the government of monopolising the liquor trade by allowing for a new category of select liquor contractors — L1 A — who will be allotted liquor for onward sale to L1 contractors, wholesalers and retailers.

The issue was raised by Congress MLA from Mohali Balbir Singh Sidhu during the discussion on supplementary grants for 2015-16. The discussion began with Sidhu accusing the government of trying to help Cabinet minister Bikram Singh Majithia, Raju Chaddha and Deep Malhotra. He also named a liquor contractor from Abohar for being a beneficiary of this new policy. “The state exchequer will lose Rs 10,000 crore due to this policy,” he said. 

Though Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal later refuted these allegations and maintained that the policy was made to end monopoly, the Opposition was in no mood to relent. Sidhu alleged that the last date for applying for the L1 A licence was tomorrow, but the rules for applying for the same were still not clear. “The only thing that has been specified is that the licensee will have to pay Rs 2.5 crore,” he said. 

This led to a war of words between Sidhu and Akali MLA from Faridkot Deep Malhotra (both are involved in the liquor business. As the two argued, the treasury benches mockingly suggested enforcing prohibition in Punjab. Sidhu said since the Shiromani Akali Dal was a Panthic party, it should bring a resolution in this regard. Agriculture Minister Tota Singh intervened and demanded that all 117 members of the Vidhan Sabha should first take a pledge to quit drinking. 

As members on both sides taunted each other, Sukhbir explained that L1 A contractors had always been there. “The Governor has no role to play and the distilleries/manufacturers will themselves appoint their sole contractors. Each distillery will appoint one licensee as per their own terms and conditions,” he said. He added that they had tried to break monopoly in the liquor trade by increasing the number of licensing units from 226 to 650 and fixing the ceiling at which liquor would be sold to consumers. 

Iqbal Singh Jhunda, Gurpratap Wadala, Manpreet Singh Ayali and Manoranjan Kalia from the treasury benches and Kuljit Singh Nagra and Ashwani Sekhri (both from the Congress) and Simarjit Singh Bains (Independent MLA) participated in the discussion. 

Meanwhile, Budget proposals for 2016-17 for Rs 86,387 crore and supplementary grants of Rs 10,418 crore for 2015-16 were passed by the House.