New liquor policy will pave way for another scam in state, claims Marandi

Ranchi: Two days after the cabinet of chief minister Hemant Soren approved a proposal to hand over the retail liquor sale from Jharkhand State Beverages Corporation Limited to private players, state BJP termed the move as a recipe for another scam in the state.

Babulal Marandi, state BJP president and the leader of opposition (LoP) in the state assembly, raised several questions about the policy and demanded that the govt should give women to run the liquor stores.

"As per the new policy, one person can take 12 shops in one district and 36 across the state. It seems that the provision is to favour particular lobbies. If the govt is honest in its intention, only one shop should be allocated to one license holder," he said at a press conference on Saturday. Marandi also stressed that the shops be allocated in notified areas based on population ratio and priority should be given to rural women.

He said, "Hemant govt has laid the foundation for a liquor scam for the third time. The first two scams are still under investigation, and now a new liquor policy has been introduced to benefit its favourites in a new way. This policy gives freedom to the mafia, allowing them to legally control liquor." He warned that this policy will once again result in significant revenue loss for the state.

"If the state govt genuinely wants to provide employment, a policy of one person, one shop should be implemented. This would bring equality and transparency to the liquor trade. Additionally, the license holder should be required to run the shop themselves to prevent intermediaries and mafias from operating," Marandi further said.

Defending govt's move, state excise department minister Yogendra Prasad said that the new policy has been brought to streamline liquor sales and ramp up revenues. "By privatisation of retail sales, we will be able to curb black marketing, overpricing and rake up good revenues. The liquor wholesale business however will still be regulated by the govt," he said.

Retail liquor businessmen welcomed the govt's move. Subodh Jaiswal, general secretary of Jharkhand Sharab Vyapari Sangh said that they had long been demanding for private players in retail sales, to which the govt finally agreed to.