Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said here on Wednesday that the government was not in favour of a ban on sale of toddy in the State.
Responding to questions from reporters at his weekly Cabinet briefing, the Chief Minister said that the government would have to take into the consideration the welfare of toddy workers in this regard.
The Chief Minister said that the government respected the suggestion of the High Court that the sale of toddy should be banned. However, at times, the government would have to disagree.
Mr. Chandy said that the real problem was the disparity in the quantity of toddy produced in the State and the quantity sold. The government had discontinued auction of toddy shops to discourage the tendency to sell spurious toddy, sacrificing revenue of Rs. 100 crore. It was trying to curtail the sale of toddy by reducing the number of shops.
He said that the government was also determined to stall the sale of lotteries from other States such as the Goa lotteries. The State government should have freedom to ban sale of such lotteries.
