Madya Vyatirek Porata Ikya Vedia on Friday demanded that a complete prohibition on sale and consumption of liquor be imposed in the State.
The Vedika, under aegis of various women organisations, organised a meeting on liquor policy-prohibition here on Friday. Later, a rally was taken out in protest against the liquor policy and spurious liquor that claimed five lives in the city recently.
Addressing the gathering, CPI national leader and National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW) general secretary Annie Raja strongly advocated total prohibition.
It was unfortunate that many States, including Andhra Pradesh, were excessively dependent on revenues generated from sale of liquor. The governments should explore other sources of revenue and impose a total ban on liquor sale, she said.
Ms. Annie Raja said unfortunately the governments were creating widows and orphans with their liquor policies. The spurious liquor claimed five lives in the city. The ruling party and opposition were hand in glove in this regard. “We don’t want any political games to be played on this issue. What we want is a political decision on liquor prohibition,” she said.
CPI(M) Polit Buro member Brinda Karat said that Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi were silent on special status to AP. Mr. Naidu utterly failed in getting funds from the Centre to the State. Instead, he was turning the State into a haven for liquor trade.
The TDP had promised that it would control the liquor in the State before polls. But now, it was opening liquor shops based on the population babis, she pointed out.
