Debate on Liquor in TS Assembly

Hyderabad, October 01: The Telangana Legislative Assembly took up a heated debate on the ongoing crisis with Liquor supply in the Telangana State.

The opposition leaders have criticised the government for taking steps taken such as providing liquor in the shopping malls and extending the sale of liquor in wine shops up to 11 pm.

On Tuesday, the BJP demanded that the state government should take steps to ensure that people should not die in the state due to consumption of liquor.

Members of all parties participated in a short discussion on the Gudumba (Sarah) extermination in the state. BJP leader Laxman criticized TRS for letting bars up to 11 o'clock at night, and further discrepancies in activities like shopping malls.

Excise Minister T. Padmarao Goud said that till date, 5,039 Gudumba manufacturers have been given alternative employment.

He further said that " Ninety-eight percent of Telangana is free of the menace of illicit distilled liquor and the state government is determined to put down the evil"

Opposition BJP announced a ‘walk out’ from the House at the end of the debate, alleging that the state government has turned the excise department into one that promoted liquor consumption.

Charging that the previous governments did not do enough to check the menace of illicit distilled liquor, the minister said the present government launched a war against Gudumba on September 1, 2015.

The battle is not an enforcement action but is a social campaign in a holistic way to eradicate the menace from the root, the minister maintained.