The Special Task Force Units (STFU) have registered 4,900 cases against the liquor retailers and unauthorised belt shop owners in the State so far, Excise, Handlooms and BC Welfare Minister Kollu Ravindra has said.
Speaking to the media here, the Minister said that apart from registering cases related to sale of liquor at higher prices than the MRP, the STFU have cancelled licences of a few for violating the ordained norms, adding that plans were afoot for expansion of the task force units.
Effective steps were being taken not to allot liquor shops in the vicinity of the places of worship and educational institutions and this was why the government had denied permission for functioning of bars in some localities in Tirupati where movement of pilgrims was sizeable, he said.
In reply to a question, he said that January 21 had been set as deadline for identifying one lakh beneficiaries by the BC Corporation. Eligible candidates would be provided with loan of Rs. 1 lakh and an equal amount in the form of subsidy. The programme envisaged financial strengthening of the backward classes.
In the same vein, Mr. Ravindra said, the government had chalked out various schemes for the benefit of handloom weavers who would be imparted with training and tools.
