Location of wine shops near places of worship and educational institutions dominated the District Review Committee meeting here on Saturday.
Members cutting across party lines expressed anguish at the presence of wine shops in close proximity of mosques, temples and educational institutions.
The Excise Department was granting licenses without consulting the police as it had all the powers now. The government was to be blamed for this situation as it was concerned only about revenue and not public welfare, the members said.
While the police was closing down other shops in the night it was allowing the wine shops to operate beyond the permitted hours.
M.M.A. Farooqui, deputy commissioner, Excise, said there were 212 retail wine shops in the city and rules were adhered to in allotting the premises.
Wine shops are not permitted within 100 meters of places of worship recognised by Wakf Board and Endowments Department and schools recognised by government.
“What about private schools', questioned Geeta Reddy, district incharge Minister. She felt the rules needed to be amended. It was becoming a social menace with the tipplers creating nuisance and indulging in eve teasing.
M. Shashidhar Reddy, vice chairman, National Disaster Management Authority, wanted CC cameras to be installed before the wine shops as was being done in Delhi to catch the misbehaviour of drunkards. He asked the Excise Department to ensure that the wine shops close by 11 p.m . Majlis legislator, Akbaruddin Owaisi, suggested total prohibition to be imposed since liquor was the root cause of all problems.
He asked the police to prepare a list of wine shops situated close to places of worship and educational institutions. Ms. Geeta Reddy accepted this suggestion and asked Amit Garg, Additional Commissioner of Police, Coordination, to prepare a list within a month's time.
Anjan Kumar Yadav, MP, took objection to use of God's names by wine shops. He reeled out names like Saraswati Wines, Venkateshwara wines, Saibaba wines and wondered what the Excise Department was doing.
Virasat Rasool Khan (MIM) alleged that every police station was getting a ‘mamool' of Rs. 50,000 from each wine shop and therefore was not taking action.
