Thamarassery Bishop Remigiose Inchananiyil, who is also chairman of the Kerala Catholic Bishop Council’s (KCBC) Madya Virudha Samiti, expressed resentment over the changes in the liquor policy of the State government.
When Chief Minister Oommen Chandy called on the Bishop at Thamarassery on Saturday, the Bishop reiterated the church’s stand that liquor shops should be closed down.
The Chief Minister met the Bishop in the wake of Friday’s ‘Nilpu Samaram’ (stand-up protest) by the samithi to press this demand.
Bishop’s pleaDuring the discussions with the Chief Minister, he made an appeal to the government to reinstate the old policy that enabled the closure of many bars. Meanwhile, Mr. Chandy made efforts to convince the Bishop on the actual circumstances that forced the government to reconsider its previous decision.
Speaking to the media later, Mr. Chandy said the government would not go back on its declared policy of reducing the number of liquor outlets in the State gradually and then achieve total prohibition.
“We would be able to achieve total prohibition in 10 years as per the government policy,” he said.
In view of the charges, the Chief Minister clarified that the State government had no intention to dilute the policy of achieving total prohibition. “It was declared with the firm determination to implement this and the government will strive for it,” he said.
The Chief Minister described the discussions with the Bishop as “fruitful,” but refused to disclose other issues taken up at the meeting.
